Hop Along Boo, Time for Bed

“The whole world is snug in their jammies./They’ve all brushed their teeth till they gleam./They’re all skipping out of the bathrom,/And heading off into a dream.” While bedtime books abound, making this a crowded and not terribly original space, Hop Along Boo, Time for Bed deserves special recognition for its first-class execution, combining soft and dreamy illustrations with soothing cadence and a rhyme scheme that makes it possible to read every night before bed without loss of enjoyment. As the book opens on Belle’s bedroom scene, repeat readers will soon recognize the toys strewn across her floor as a foretelling of adventures to come, linking the tangible world and the dream world in a poignant reminder of the power of a child’s imagination. Sutcliffe’s parades of almost doll-like children—with a mix of pajamas and costumes, toys and their real-world counterparts—tell a host of stories and make this bedtime book one a child can quite literally find themselves in. The illustrations evoke happiness in their use of the magic only illustration can create and remind us of the transporting power of a bedtime story as Belle climbs up four beds to reach a fifth that looks like it was snatched right from the classic tale of the Princess and the Pea.