Time for bed! (When It's Time for Bed - Nick Butterworth)

Member Name: tb4ms

Product:	When It's Time for Bed - Nick Butterworth
Date:	05/07/08 (159 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A great book for very young children.

Disadvantages: None

This is one of a series of 4 books aimed at baby and toddlers. The main character is a little boy called Sam who has six cuddly toys: George the monkey, Wilson the giraffe, Millie the elephant, Whitey the polar bear and the unimaginatively named, Hippo the hippopotamus and Croc the crocodile!

- Style, Format and Illustrations -

Since this is aimed at babies and toddlers, it is a board book which is great for little hands and minimises the risk of tearing standard paper pages. The book consists of 7 double pages with a sentence at the bottom of each page relating to the illustrations.

The simple drawings are set against a white back drop and have an element of humour in some of them, for example, Croc gets toothpaste all over his face and Sam has lots of fun with Millie the elephant, squeezing water over her head in the bath.

- The Content -

As the title suggests, this is all about the routine involved for Sam and most children before going to bed.

It begins with 'When it's time for bed, there's lots for us to do'. The rest of the book depicts an activity that Sam has to undertake before getting in to bed and on each page he is joined by one of his cuddly toys, e.g. having a bath, getting a drink, cleaning their teeth, until finally they all snuggle in to bed.

- Overall -

This is a great book for pre-school children from about 12 months onwards:

~ It's just the right length and format given that it is a board book.
~ The font used is very clear and simple with no fancy loops or unusual 'a' letters.
~ Young children can relate to the activities and routine that need to take place prior to going to bed.
~ The use of the animals undertaking each activity like going on the potty, going in the bath etc adds an element of interest for young children.

- Price -

My book, ISBN: 0-00-137436-2 was £3.99 but they are available from amazon from just 1p, failing that, the library is always a great option!

- Other books in this series -

~ When there's work to do
~ When we play together
~ When we go shopping

~ Nick Butterworth ~

Over many years, Nick Butterworth has created a great series of children's stories based around a character of Percy the Park Keeper and his animal friends in the park.
His books have achieved huge success, selling over 4 million copies and translated into 15 languages
One Snowy Night (1989 ~ the first in the series)
After the Storm
Percy's Bumpy Ride
The Rescue Party
The Secret Path
The Cross Rabbit

He has written other children's books such as:
Albert the Blanc
Q Pootle 5 in Space
The Whisperer

Summary: A great book for very young children.