Go Sleep in Your Own Bed - Hardcover

Candace Fleming is the author of many critically acclaimed and bestselling books for children. Her picture books include Oh, No!, a Parents' Choice Gold Award Winner; Clever Jack Takes the Cake; and Imogene's Last Stand. She is also the author of the nonfiction titles The Family Romanov, winner of the LA Times Book Prize and the Boston Globe–Horn Book Award; Amelia Lost; The Great and Only Barnum; and The Lincolns, also a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Winner. She lives in Oak Park, Illinois. Visit her at candacefleming.com, or follow her on Twitter @candacemfleming.
 
Lori Nichols is the author and illustrator of Maple and its companion books Maple and Willow Together and Maple and Willow Apart. The New York Times called the series "utterly charming." She lives in Birmingham, Alabama, with her husband and three free-spirited daughters. Learn more at lorinichols.com, or follow her on Twitter @lorinicholsbook.

PreS-Gr 1—Day is done, and the farm animals quietly take to their beds to get some much-needed rest. Pig toddles off to his sty, with all its glorious mud and slop, but finds a cow in his spot. "Go sleep in your own bed!" Pig demands. Cow clompety-stomps to her stall, but there she startles awake a squawking hen. Banished from Cow's stall, Hen enters her coop to find a horse sound asleep! What is going on here? Young readers will chuckle as they encounter one misplaced creature after another. A horse should not be in the henhouse, for heaven's sake! Anticipating which animal will be in the wrong bed next leads children on, as will the imaginative language each animal spouts. The horse whickers, "Oh, w-w-w-h-o-o-o-a is me," while the sheep complains, "Oh, baaah-ther!" Ultimately, the cat, who takes shelter in its human's bed at the end, makes this story deeply satisfying. Everyone has a place to sleep at last. The twilight palette of muted blues, greens, and browns provides a snug, sleepy background throughout. VERDICT The playful language, the farm animals, the cozy illustrations, and the twist on the time-to-go-to bed theme make this a standout for drowsy bedtime reading. Children will love it.—Joan Kindig, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA