Another perfect picture book from the creators of the bestselling classic Where is the Green Sheep?
Bonnie and Ben have a favourite babysitter whose much loved nursery rhymes ensure a wonderful, whimsical world before bedtime.
About
This is the second book by Mem Fox and me. Our first book together, Where is the Green Sheep? was published in 2004, and quickly became a childhood classic, one of those books every child must have. From that point on, while I did a number of picture books by myself, Mem and I were also looking for another project to do together but nothing seemed quite right. It took nearly eight years to find the right one! During that time, we considered quite a number of crazy zany animal ideas, but in the end what seemed like the best idea was to do something entirely different. Mem and I have the same agent, the wonderful Jenny Darling, and she suggested that I look at an old text of Mem’s, Good Night Sleep Tight, which had been published in the 1980s, but had gone out of print. The plan was for a new edition of this book, with brand new illustrations. It’s the story of two children at bedtime, whose babysitter tells them lots of nursery rhymes.
I think what appealed was a) there were lots of possibilities for the pictures, b) I love nursery rhymes and most importantly, c) it was very different to Where is the Green Sheep?. The idea of the two strands to the story – the contemporary story of the babysitter with the two children, and the more old-fashioned ‘stories’ of all the nursery rhymes really appealed to me. The strands interweave – showing the children, Bonnie and Ben and their babysitter, Skinny Doug, at home, and also off on adventures in the nursery rhymes.
A few years later, we did a companion volume, Bonnie and Ben Rhyme Again, with the same characters and likewise full of nursery rhymes.
‘So once again we have a classic in the making, a tribute to the everlasting joy of nursery rhymes by two of Australia’s master storytellers.’
Alexa Dretzke, Readings Newsletter, October 2012
Availability
Available at all good bookstores or through Booktopia
Editions
Scholastic Australia Pty Limited ISBN 978-1-74283-257-9
Hardback, Scholastic Australia ISBN 978-981-11-3094-6
Scholastic USA ISBN 978-0-545-53370-6
Scholastic Australia (10th Anniversary Special Edition) ISBN 978-1-76120-776-1
Reviews
10 Great Board Books, Read Me, February 24 2015
New York Times Bookshelf: Sleep, August 23 2013
Publishers Weekly, May 20 2013
Kirkus Review, May 15 2013
The Book Chook, January 2013 by Susan Stephenson
Brona’s Books, August 2012 by Brona
Kids Book Review, October 2012 by Susan Whelan
Readings Review, October 2012 by Alexa Dretzke – Children’s & YA Book Specialist
Other covers
