Who said bedtime was hard? Dad’s got bedtime sorted! Lenny and the twins have a bath without water spilling over, brush their teeth without toothpaste spraying onto the mirror, and go to sleep straight after their story. Perfect!
Dad can finally settle down to his dinner. But then –
My pyjamas don’t match!
I’m too cold! I’m too hot!
The window is making funny noises!
I’m not tired!
From one of Australia’s best-loved comedians and children’s entertainers Jimmy Rees comes a story about the bedtime excuses that families everywhere will know all too well.
Bedtime Sorted! is a board book for young readers by Australian comedian, Jimmy Rees. Mum gets the kids fed before her dinner out. Dad arrives home to do the dinner clean-up and get the kids bathed and into bed. That all happens very neatly and efficiently: bedtime sorted! But, as Dad is trying to prepare and eat his own dinner, little Lenny keeps finding excuses not to stay in bed, excuses every parent has heard some version of, before.
It’s a cute tale that is not just enhanced by Briony Stewart’s clever and quirky illustrations, but which really tell the story. The detail on every page welcomes close scrutiny. Dad, Lenny and the baby twins are beavers; Mum is a duck; the pet is an iguana who bears watching for what he gets up to on each page; the typical family photos on the wall show that the baby beavers hatch from eggs. The cook- and story-book titles and authors will amuse. The front inside cover is filled with lots of Lennys avoiding bed, the back, with many Lennys in sleeping poses. Quite delightful!
Some people I know get very cranky about ‘famous’ people getting book deals. I don’t really care one way or another but I must admit, we are all Jimmy Rees fans in this family, so we were keen to check this one out. Evie said: Mum is going out and Dad has to put all the kids to bed. Everything goes very smoothly and you think, wow, clever Dad, but then the biggest kid does that thing kids do and just keeps getting back up out of bed. It was a funny book and now I’ve got some new excuses for getting back up or staying up late, so thanks, Jimmy Rees. It’s a fun book that definitely reflects the sort of things that go on in lots of households. I have to admit, I am not a fan at all of the illustrations, with all of the characters being different animals for no apparent reason and all with unappealing facial expressions. But the book isn’t aimed at me, of course.