“It’s time for bed, little cat, little cat / So snuggle in tight, that’s right, like that.” This 1993 bedtime favorite from the Australian author Mem Fox and the illustrator Jane Dyer is now available in this small, square board book edition. Even the most reluctant snoozers will find themselves lulled by the repetitive rhythms, as the parent sheep, cat, snake, and fish implore their babies to get some shuteye: “It’s time for bed, little sheep, little sheep, / The whole wide world is going to sleep.” Dyer’s watercolor illustrations are bucolic and beautiful. A sweet, soothing lullaby.
Barnes & Noble Staff
As night falls, all sorts of animals are putting their babies to bed. Lavish illustrations show dogs, cats, sheep--and even fish, bees, and snakes--crooning soothing rhymes about sleep to their babies. At last a small child is shown tucked snugly into bed. Like a lullaby, this gentle and loving goodnight book will send children off to sleep feeling comforted and serene.
Publishers Weekly
"Dyer's commanding yet gentle, large-scale watercolors are the key to the appeal of this bedtime lullaby," wrote PW of the hardcover edition of Time for Bed by Mem Fox, now available in an oversize board book edition. A host of parents nudge their little ones to sleep, from a mouse to a sheep to the final image of a smiling human mother tucking in her child. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Filling each spread, Dyer's (illustrator of the Piggins books and of Baby Bear's Bedtime Book ) commanding yet gentle, large-scale watercolors are the key to the appeal of this bedtime lullaby. Fox ( Possum Magic ; Guess What? ) offers sweet but slim verse that bids good night to a selection of animals being cuddled and coddled by their mothers, all endearingly rendered at eye-level. The rhymed couplets have a pleasantly lilting rhythm, if an occasionally trite rhyme scheme: ``It's time for bed, little sheep, little sheep, / The whole wide world is going to sleep.'' After viewing the various animals nodding off, youngsters will take their bedtime cue from a cherubic toddler, whose blond head falls into a pillow covered with golden stars as mother offers a hug and the text concludes: ``The stars on high are shining bright-- / Sweet dreams, my darling, sleep well . . . / good night!'' Ages 2-6. (Sept.)
Children's Literature - Susie Wilde
Writer Mem Fox and illustrator Jane Dyer have a special gift for portraying warm, loving families that provide comfort for small children. Their talents are combined in Time for Bed, a rhyming lullaby. Fox names and Dyer pictures twelve sets of animal parents bedding down their young with kisses, hugs, snuggles and tenderness.
Children's Literature - Marilyn Bagel
This endearing bedtime book is perfect for winding down with little ones at the end of a busy day. After reading it, you'll feel good too! Each large two-page illustration radiates genuine affection and celebrates the love between moms of all kinds and their young, as they ready them for bed. Mommy mouse embraces her baby. A sheep and her lamb rub muzzles. Mother cow and her calf exchange loving glances. Mommy horse and her foal nuzzle each other. And on and on, concluding with a human mommy tucking her young child in bed with this thought: "The stars on high are shining bright-Sweet dreams, my darling, sleep well... good night!" This book will melt your heart.
School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2-Charming illustrations and comfortable rhymes characterize this appealing bedtime book. A twilight mood is set by dusky endpapers sprinkled with twinkling yellow stars, and by a title page showing a mother reading to a child. Double-page spreads feature animal pairs, each with a parent settling its offspring down for the night. An orange tabby kitten receives a soothing bath, a sleepy blue bird is tucked into a warm nest, and a delicate fawn curls up against its mother. Each babe is lulled by a gently rhyming couplet beginning with the phrase, ``It's time for bed.'' Dyer's watercolor illustrations are dear. Large, clearly drawn animals are placed against backgrounds of vivid hues. A variety of landscapes keeps each scene looking fresh as a foal settles down in a moonlit meadow, a pair of fish blow bubbles in blue water, and two snakes curl up in overgrown grass. Working beautifully with the soothingly repetitive text, each painting conveys a warm feeling of safety and affection. A wonderful bedfellow for Ginsburg's Asleep, Asleep (Greenwillow, 1992).-Joy Fleishhacker, New York Public Library
Ilene Cooper
Both parents and children should like this cozy good-night story. Against a blanket of blue sky full of golden stars, mother animals are putting their babies to sleep. Although the rhyme at times limps rather than lilts ("It's time for bed, little mouse, little mouse, / Darkness is falling all over the house"), there's a warmth to this that makes the whole more than the sum of its parts. Of course, one of the important parts is the art--striking watercolors that fill up the two-page spreads, showing a sheep and a lamb, a dog and a puppy, a cow and a calf, and others, the babies all with heavy lids, and the mothers affectionately nestling their young. The last mother-child duo is a mom and her curly-headed tot, who is wished sweet dreams and in the last picture is sound asleep. A pleasant prelude to slumber.
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