Outer Space Bedtime Race

by Rob Sanders, Brian Won (Illustrations)

Aaaaaand they’re off . . . to bed! Aliens from every planet rocket through their out-of-this-world bedtime routines—they sink into steamy crater bubble baths and shimmy into deep-sleep suits, just like you (almost)! Brian Won’s glowing graphic art pops off the page, and Rob Sanders’s goofy rhymes will have kids racing to snuggle under the covers and blast off to dreamland.

Genres: Picture Books, Space, Aliens, Childrens, Storytime, Science, Planets

40 pages, Hardcover

First published January 27, 2015

About the author

Rob Sanders does not work as a telephone sales rep, a loading dock worker, a trophy engraver, or an editor. But he used to. Rob is not a cowboy, a ballerina, an alien, or a temper-tantrum-throwing toddler. But he writes about them. Rob is a picture book author, a writing teacher, a blogger, and a great uncle. He worked for fifteen years in religious educational publishing as a writer, editor, editorial manager, and product designer. These days he teaches elementary kids about books and words and reading and writing, and writes books for those same kids.

Rob’s first picture book, COWBOY CHRISTMAS, was released by Golden Books/Random House in 2012. OUTER SPACE BEDTIME RACE was released by Random House Children’s Books in January 2015. RUBY ROSE ON HER TOES (the first in a two-book deal with HarperCollins) releases in 2016, and Rob just sold RODZILLA to Justin Chanda at Simon & Schuster.

Rob also coordinates the Rising Kite Writing Contest for SCBWI Florida, organizes meetings for SCBWI Florida members in the Tampa Bay area, and critiques picture book manuscripts for other writers.

Reviews

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

Outer Space Bedtime Race, in concept, sounds like a great idea, pairing cute aliens with a bedtime theme. And yet, the concept falls a bit flat, due in large part to the uneven rhyming couplets and in small part to the "race" which is less of an actual race and more just the planets relative distance from the sun. Even more strange, the Earth is never mentioned. In the beginning, the reader is introduced to two pajama clad boys "spinning on their earthly ball", but Earth, as a planet with its own set of rhyming couplets, never appears between Venus and Mars. To its credit, the illustrations are whimsical and the text gives hints to the true nature of each planet. When paired with the 'Sleepy Bedtime Planet Factoids' at the end of the book, the reader gets even more information about the solar system. But, overall, this is more miss than hit and an optional purchase.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the illustrations! The text was charming too. Great little "factoids" in the back to take it another level deeper. All around a terrific book! Best of 2015.

[Rick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute. But I’ve got some issues with it. Life as depicted for the aliens on the planets of our solar system is terrible. The gas giant and the ice giant planets are depicted as having a surface, this is completely incorrect. There should have been flying alien life forms on these world, maybe balloon-like or jellyfish-like creatures. That’s half the worlds depicted right there. And Venus is hotter than Mercury even though Mercury is closer to the sun. Also a day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus, so night would less often than your birthday on Venus. These are fun facts that would have been far more interesting to explore with rhymes for children. And then there’s Pluto. Don’t get me started … oh wait, I did that myself. Pluto is NOT an “unplanet” as it is called in the book. Pluto is now classified as a Dwarf Planet. Continuing to resent the reclassification only helps perpetuate ignorance and a disrespect for science among children. Pluto is now acknowledged as the most recognizable of the newly classified Dwarf Planets; and even though Ceres is much closer to Earth than Pluto, that cold world at the edge or Oort Cloud keeps getting all the attention. Ceres and the other recognized Dwarf Planets, Eris, Makemake, and Haumea, aren’t even named in the text. Very disappointing. But in any case, this is still a cute book.

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Age: Toddler+
Science: Space

Two boys snuggle up in bed and hear about how alien children across their solar system go to bed. Rhyming poetry make this a fun and fast read-aloud with delightful illustrations of various aliens throughout our solar system.

Semantics, but the uncertainty is present. It's not entirely clear why it's called a bedtime race--are the aliens racing against each other to go to sleep first? In the end, we see the Earth boys barreling through space on their bed but I'm not entirely sure how they got there. Have they been racing around the solar system this whole time?

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

As the planets of our solar system race around the sun, bringing nighttime to all the children (human and alien alike), the narrator describes how all the alien children get ready for bed. A cute, colorful rhyme. Could work in either an alien-themed or bedtime-themed storytime.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun bedtime book about the planets.

[Trisha Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an imaginative book that explores what different aliens, from all 9 planets, would do to get ready for bed. The rhyme scheme is very rhythmic.

[Lynne Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So clever, with planet facts woven in and fine rhyme.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

Creative way through the universe and planets.

[Marcie · Rating 3 out of 5]

PK-2nd grade. As two kids (from earth) are getting ready for bed, the author tells readers how beings from each planet in our solar system get ready for bed, too. The fun, rhyming language describes routines that may be oddly familiar to earth children. The text even includes some interesting facts about each planet ("Since Neptune swarms with icy clouds..."). The sometimes-silly illustrations are bold and colorful. This book is a great bedtime story for any space fan!

[Matthew Winner · Rating 4 out of 5]

First up is Outer Space Bedtime Race by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Brian Won. And this is published by Random House. This is a bedtime book, a race to bed (of course) in rhyming text with a visit to each of the plants along the way and my goodness does this not have the most beautifully designed art by Brian Won. This is the guy who brought us Hooray for Hat earlier this year. And it has so many different charming aliens, spacey pictures, and everything just kind of seems to glow off of the page. It's beautiful. And paired with the Ron's rhyming text that… I've just got to flat out say that there is one point where we talk about the creatures of Saturn going to bed in the buff, which is something that I think kids are not going to be able to forget. This is such a beautifully designed book and one that feels new for space books. It feels new for designing characters from from other planets in making them look unique and cute and adorable. So, really well-done! I love this book! Outer Space Bedtime Race. Check it out!

This review appears on an episode of the “Best Book Ever [this week]” segment of the Let’s Get Busy podcast. Check out the original post here: http://lgbpodcast.blogspot.com/2015/0...

[Luisa Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute outer space pictures and a fun, rhyming narrative!

Ages: 4 - 7

Here’s a few of our bedtime favs: watch my reel!

Content Considerations: mentions children sleeping in the buff and shows one outlined child with his butt showing.

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[Amy Ackerman]

Opening: “How many of you have been in a race? [Students raise their hands.] What type of race was it? [Invite student responses.] [Show the cover.] Today we are going to read a story about a bedtime race between kids on different planets. What are the names of some planets that you know? [Students respond.] One of the great things about this book is even though it is fiction; we will learn some pretty neat facts about each planet.”
Opening moves: invites personal connections, activates background knowledge, alerts reader to the genre
Rationale: I chose this book because it is fun fictional story that fits with the text set of outer space. The students can relate to two themes in the story- bedtime and races. The illustrations are colorful and eye catching for the children to enjoy. I also really like how the author carefully crafts in facts about each planet. They are woven in so well that the students won’t even know they are learning while enjoying the story!

[Angie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Synopsis: "Aaaaaand they’re off . . . to bed! Aliens from every planet rocket through their out-of-this-world bedtime routines—they sink into steamy crater bubble baths and shimmy into deep-sleep suits, just like you (almost)! Brian Won’s glowing graphic art pops off the page, and Rob Sanders’s goofy rhymes will have kids racing to snuggle under the covers and blast off to dreamland."

My Review: Munchkin has decided he wants to be an astronaut, so I went on a hunt for some astronaut and outer space books for him. This was one of only 4 I could find in 2 book stores. It was okay, I would have preferred something a little more realistic but it definitely was creative. You get to travel through space and visit aliens on the different planets as they prepare for bedtime. It had a nice rhythm and the artwork was very vibrant.

[Tori Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

The gorgeous language of Rob Sanders' writing makes learning about the planets fun. It's always a plus when an author can mix facts with fun fiction and this book doesn't disappoint. Paired with whimsical illustrations, each planet gets its own clever description of how children in outer space prepare for bed. This book gets my little ones ready to be lulled into dreams of the cosmos while riding a shooting star all the way.

[Maeghan Nutmeg Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love Brian Won's illustrations. New favorite!

Slightly misleading title... Not really much of a race at all. Could use a more appropriate name. Still, fun!

I enjoyed the rhymes for each planet, but I really liked the small facts at the end of the story. Poor Pluto!

7/11/23: This book didn't work super well for my pajama ST program (a little too long/wordy for the crowd I had), but it was a great lead-in for "Zoom, zoom, zoom!"

[Read Ribbet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sanders envisions a Bedtime story that tells Earth kids using a rhyme verse how all the other planets inhabitants go to bed. Structured around the eight planets and Pluto ("so very small it's not a planet at all")with end notes capturing facts about the planets, it's a fun read with some factual information sprinkled in.

[Beth Kakuma-Depew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun planetary bedtime story. I just wish that the author hadn't kept Pluto as the Sole Ninth Planet. The text says that it's not a real planet, and the end note discuss that it's a dwarf planet along with others. But couldn't the author had skimmed some kids non-fiction books and included those new dwarf planets?

[Sheri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book about what the people on all the planets do to get ready for bed and fall asleep ties in all nine planets (yes Pluto, too). Makes a progression from the Sun to Pluto and rhymes along. At the back are some factoids about each planet and the references. The illustrator had great fun guessing at the inhabitants looks.

[Juliana Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earthlings tumble into bed knowing that all the planets are racing around the sun, each with its own bedtime routine. Read more here.

http://julianaleewriter.com/books-ali...

[Great Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

Which aliens will win the Bedtime Race? Delightful rhymes and bold illustrations take the reader through bedtimes across the solar system. Quirky facts about the planets append this visually rich story. Reviewer 9.

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun bedtime story for kids who love space. The rhyming text is entertaining, bedtime soothing and still manages to sneak in a little science. Additional facts about the planets are included in the back matter.

[Tin Cheung · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's bedtime for everyone in the solar system and everyone is racing to bed. Travel from planet to planet and see how each alien goes to bed. Great way to learn about the planets

(ps: Pluto is include! But they did have to mention that it is not considered as a planet anymore)

[Marcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A charming book about the planets finishing up with lots of space facts in the final pages. Fun bright illustrations filled with rhyming adventures will make this a surefire hit with kids of all ages.

[Tracie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Introduces the planets and Pluto in order as all the little creatures in the solar system go to bed.

[Christine Turner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would have given it four stars, but I really don't like to font that they used.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received a promotional copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways.

[Rhonda K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another favorite for my son. He had fun with the planet factoids, confirming some of what he already knew and some he didn't. Rhyming text and spiffy illustrations. A keeper!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm using this as part of my Solar System DiscoveryTime, and it is about how humans and aliens from other planets get ready for bed.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

i wanted this to be better than it was. not terrible but we just didn't love it.