The Going to Bed Book
A teacher’s look at why this book belongs in the Lap Listeners stage.
Why it fits Lap Listeners (for babies in their first year, when books are about your voice, not the plot)
Absurd animals brush teeth and exercise before bed to a bouncing meter. The rhythm is so dependable that babies physically relax into it. A near-perfect first bedtime script.
What makes it special
The absurdity is the secret: the animals exercise after their bath, and no one explains why. Boynton's chunky ark-load of characters is drawn with the comic precision of a New Yorker cartoonist working in board book. Its steady, ridiculous calm has ushered more children to sleep than most parenting apps combined.
From the publisher
An assortment of animals on a boat take a bath, put on their pajamas, brush their teeth, and exercise before going to…
About Sandra Boynton
Sandra Boynton is a cartoonist, songwriter, and one-woman industry of deadpan animal comedy, with over 70 million books sold. Her specialty is respecting a toddler's intelligence while refusing to take anything else seriously.
Boynton began in greeting cards while still a Yale drama student — her hippo birthday card ('Hippo Birdie Two Ewes') sold in the millions — and she carried that perfect-timing card sensibility into board books when her own children were small. She also produces Grammy-nominated children's albums with guests like Meryl Streep and B.B. King.
Also by this author: Barnyard Dance! · Pajama Time! · But Not the Hippopotamus
More from “Sing It, Say It Again”
This book is part of The Best Books for Babies: 30 Teacher Picks (Lap Listeners) in our guide The Best Children’s Books by Age — 120 books chosen by the Montessori-certified teachers at Creative Minds Montessori in Frisco, TX. Come see how we build readers →
Nobody paid for this review — not the author, not the publisher — and the store link above earns us nothing. Our only interest is the reader this book fits.