This week, I’m reviewing It’s Bedtime, William!, written and illustrated by Deborah Niland.
It’s bedtime. And William doesn’t want to go to bed. He’s not at all tired.
But his parents insist. No argument persuades them to let William stay up. So he stomps off to bed…
…only to find that a lion has already fallen asleep in it.
What will William do now?
I am a big fan of Deborah Niland’s illustrations. There’s a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake. When the Wind Changed. Mulga Bill’s Bicycle. But I’m not as familiar with her writing.
That’s something I’m going to rectify. It’s Bedtime, William! is a cracker of a read. It’s fun and funny, and with an oh-so-cute ending that some will see coming, but that I didn’t.
Our four-and-a-half-year-old daughter has recently started complaining about bedtime, and coming up with excuses to leave her bed and room. I’m just going to the toilet! Can I please have a drink of water? Can I please turn my fan on? I forgot to tell you something!
It’s not a big problem yet, but it happens often enough for all of us to recognise it in the book. And nod. And laugh.
She loves reading this book. So does my almost-two-year-old son, but mostly because he likes to roar whenever he sees a picture of a lion. He hardly has any voice left at the end of this book!
Recommended for lion-loving readers aged three and up.
Have you read It’s Bedtime, William!? What did you think?
*The links in this post are affiliate links. If you click to buy the item, I earn a little commission but you don’t pay any extra.
Thanks for the tops review Em! Little E is fighting bedtime like he’s the French Resistance; disrupting night time services and trying to assassinate the sanity of his parental captors.
I’m going to track down It’s Bedtime, William and see he can recognise himself in it.
Definitely worth it. Will have links to purchase in this post over the weekend.
Haven’t read it but need to for my 3.5yo – he’s not a fan of bed at the moment!
It’s a winner! You can see the kids’ eyes gleaming at the start, as they file away all the excuses for later use. But then when William cops it, the penny drops. Oh. It’s annoying.
Ah this book looks just gorgeous.
It is! I salute thee, Deborah Niland!
WIll it give them more ideas? But VERY cute.
Ha, it might, but hopefully they empathise enough by the end of it to hold back!
Such glorious illustrations, Em 🙂
Aren’t they adorable? I hope I find a lion in my bed tonight. (That sounds like a terrible euphemism.)
Love the sound of this, will have to see if I can hunt down a copy.
Good luck! I’ll have links in this post shortly.
William has a very cheeky look on the front cover – reminds me exactly of Mr TT!
He is SOOOO cheeky!
Gorgeous! Will look into this book. We love the illustrations in Mulga Bill’s Bicycle.
The twinions are FOREVER asking for something to eat, or drink or go to the toilet. It’s such a loooooong stretch to bed time!
Mulga Bill is still on the favourites list in this house. Maybe after this book, they can take turns being the lion and entertain each other until they fall asleep?!
We have all of those books you mentioned, and I love the illustrations on this. So quirky. I’m gonna have to see if our local library has a copy.
I hope they do – good luck!