Sandra Boynton: The Going to Bed Book

My first Sandra Boynton experience was a birthday card that said “Hippo Birdies Two Ewe.” It was accompanied by simple, whimsical illustrations of a hippo, birds, and two ewe. I’ve loved her quirky sense of humor and her illustrations ever since. (Okay, that “ewe” pluralization sounded odd to me as I wrote it just now, so I looked it up on wiktionary. Sandra is right—“ewe” can be pluralized with or without the “s.” Who gnu?)



A true small-size board book made of paper over board, The Going to Bed Book is goofiness at its finest. A crew of endearing animals on board a ship prepare for bed by going below to take a bath, brush their teeth, and so on. The surprise comes as the moon rises, when they all go upstairs for a bit of exercise before settling down to sleep. The rhythm never misses a beat and the last spread echoes the soothing, sway of a ship as "They rock and rock and rock to sleep."



Inside scoop:
According to an article in the New York Times, Sandra Boynton’s studio is located in a renovated barn beside her Connecticut home, which sits on 100 acres. With her first illustration sale at age 14 to a local newspaper, she bought two shares of AT&T stock!

Enjoy these videos of families reading this book. Take a look:





The Going to Bed Book
Sandra Boynton, author-illustrator
Little Simon, 1995

~ Joan Holub, author