Tuck Me In!

by Dean Hacohen

Who needs to be tucked in? Turn each page until all baby animals—and little readers—are cozy and ready for sleep in this irresistible bedtime ritual.

The stars are out. The moon is rising. All the baby animals, from peacocks to pigs to zebras, are ready for bed. Will you tuck them in and say good night? Just turn the pages and the big inviting flaps that serve as blankets cover each little creature up to its chin. This simple but endlessly satisfying novelty, with its array of goggle-eyed baby animals, bold patterns, and vibrant colors, is sure to be the book of choice for little ones everywhere, night after night.

Genres: Picture Books, Storytime, Animals, Childrens, Fiction, Juvenile, Birds

38 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2010

About the author

Dean Hacohen began his career as a copywriter at an ad agency, where he met Sherry Scharschmidt, his first art director partner. He says that in advertising, experimenting with different configurations of elements can lead to interesting ideas—which is what sparked the notion of using book pages as blankets. He lives in White Plains, New York.

Reviews

[Julie]

Fourth cutest thing I've seen today - after Baby, Baby, and Husband.

[Asho]

L saw this book at the library and wanted it, but I think as far as age-appropriateness goes it actually falls in between my two girls right now. L, at age 4, is a bit too old to enjoy the incredibly repetitive text. F, at almost 1, has no problem with the repetition but doesn't quite have the dexterity to lift the flaps to tuck in all the animals. I think she could do it if it were in board book form, but it's just a regular hard cover with slightly thicker pages and she had trouble gripping them. I bet this would be perfect for a 2-year-old. I do wish it was a touch shorter, I think it has 2 or 3 animals too many!

[Sweet on Books]

What better way to get your little one to bed than by giving them the chance to tuck in some friends? That ‘s just what they get to do in this creative, new picture book. On each page sprawls an adorable animal with its head on a pillow, supposedly ready for bed. The innocent, wide eyes staring back at us definitely suggest otherwise. As we turn each page, asking who needs to be tucked in, we find a half page that transforms into a cleverly designed blanket as the reader turns it over. The repetition of “Who else needs to be tucked in?” and "I do!" are perfect for young readers and they are sure to join in after just a few pages. I like the use of some unexpected animals – we’ve seen plenty of pigs and elephants but I can’t remember the last time I saw such a cute moose and hedgehog.

This book reminds me of when my daughter and I used to go around her room as we said goodnight to everything from the dresser to the glow-in-the-dark moon and stars glued to her ceiling. Somehow that always helped her get in the mood for bed and I’m sure that this book will have a similar effect on your reader. The expression on each digitally created animal delivers a subtle message of calm and tranquility mixed in with a bit of humor. I especially like the baby alligator that looks like he’s waiting for a hug. Some fun things your readers will enjoy discovering are the textured blanket on the front cover and the animals floating on the front and back inside covers. They (and you too!) may find inspiration in the peaceful, sleeping animals found at the end of the book.

[Candice]

A great bedtime story for very little ones. Lots of repetition and opportunities for interaction. The book begins by asking, "Who needs to be tucked in?" On each left hand page is a baby animal, and the right hand page has a blanket the child can turn over the animal. The little pig says, "I do!" and when the blanket is placed over the pig, you see the words, "Good night, Baby Pig. Who else needs to be tucked in?" This repeats for several animals up to the end. The illustrations are simple and amusing.

[Cosette]

Effective

[John Yelverton]

It is a children's book with animals asking to be tucked in bed, and a page flap to allow your child to do this. It's really more of a game than a book.

[Kelly]

LOVED it! I loved the simplicity, the anticipation, and the illustrations. It is very, very simple, but I think little ones will like it.

[Katie]

This book is a little doofy, but I love it.
Great interactive play for smaller storytimes.

[Nicola]

Would be great for 2 year olds. We largely ignored the repetitive text, Miss 3 did enjoy telling all the animals to go to bed or inventing reasons why they didn't want to. The main draw for the book is the turnable half pages that act as blankets.

Miss 3 and I like to explore different books and authors at the library, sometimes around particular topics or themes. We try to get different ones out every week or so; it's fun for both of us to have the variety and to look at a mix of new & favourite authors.

[FM Family]

Have to give this five stars because oh my god did my three year old love it. She sits attentively through quite long stories so I was thinking this would be too young if a book for her but she LOVED IT! She read it like 6 times in the evening after I brought it home from the library and we had to literally pull it out of her hands at bedtime. Then first thing in the morning she was like “Soooo, about that Tuck Me In book....”. She loves putting them all to bed and then doing the book in reverse and saying it’s wake up time.

[Meg]

Particularly good if you have a demanding bedtime reader, because this book will take so long to get through that they may be plumb tuckered by the end. ;) Fun opportunity for that parent or caregiver who may be uncomfortable reading to kids (plenty of space to experiment with animal noises, invites readers to interact).

[MeganRuth - Alohamora Open a Book]

A simple book for toddlers with repetition, animals, and an interactive flap. This would make a great 2nd book in a storytime. It's short, can easily be shorten, and it's interactive. You could even make this a flannel board story.

Storytime: Toddler or baby
Focus: Repetition/Narrative Skills or Background Knowledge

[Aolund]

Simple, effective premise of various baby animals, illustrated in a bold, gestural style, needing to be tucked in. Young listeners are able to participate by turning the half-page facing the baby animal which becomes the blanket tucking the baby in.

Storytime uses: bedtime, animals, print awareness

[Tompkins County Public Library Youth Services]

Who needs to be tucked in? Hacohen has designed a perfectly simple and utterly adorable book for toddlers to preschoolers with Tuck Me In! Each 2 page spread has a baby animal lying in bed, as yet uncovered, on the left hand page, and a page that looks like a blanket to pull over the animals to "tuck them in" on the right. It is too cute! Tuck your child in with this book sometime!

[Feralucce Savage]

The kiddo is too young to be left alone with this book. Every other page is a half sheet that you use to "tuck in" the animal on the facing page. The art style is colorful and whimsical so she really, really wants to rip it to shreds and play in it! The language is simple and teaches several different animals (if not how they actually sleep). A cute bedtime read.

[Kavir]

It is a cute book and my son really enjoyed it. It kinda prepares him to go to bed, so I would say a great bed time book!

It is good for 2-3-4 year olds. A child can learn names of different animals.

[Amy]

Sweet book for babies or toddlers about getting tucked in at night. Each page has an animal waiting to be tucked in and then a page that folds over the animal and looks like a blanket! It was really darling.

[Mely]

We love this series of books. Children can interact and "tuck" each animal in. After the 1st two readings, my 3 year old was "reading" this book on her own. The repetitive text helps guide pre-readers what comes next. Bold, bright graphics.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian]

A quick and cute story about animals getting tucked into bed. You tuck them in with a half page blanket. Animals included in the book - pig, zebra, elephant, alligator, moose, hedgehog, and peacock.

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Dina McPhee]

Read by Librarian Laura on the London Library's on-line "Books for Babies " program. The most adorable, bedtime, tuck-in story. One can actually tuck the animals into bed in this flap book. I wished I'd had it for my kids. There's always the hope of reading it to grandkids I suppose.

[Meredith]

A series of baby animals need to be tucked into bed.

This book features a clever construction that alternates whole and half pages, which enables the reader to tuck each character in by turning the next page.

It also features a moose.

[Diana Flores]

I was drawn in by the cover blurb: "Turn the page / Tuck baby in!" and then charmed all the way through by the adorable baby animals.

Repetitive text and bold illustrations make this is a good book for storytime. I'll use this one during our evening program for families!

[Farah]

This book sometimes feels a bit repetitive. I would love if there was a little rhyme or poem to make this book more engaging.

As is though, it's very simple but quite fun! I would personally love to make an interactive book like this for my future children ♡

[Olivia Eaton]

Tales for Two's - Bedtime Storytime

[Denise]

Cute spin on a lift the flap book - you literally tuck each animal in!

[Meg]

Simple bedtime story with flaps for blankets. Animal identification, and counting stars on each page.

[MelMon Sanchez]

A cute little bed time story.

[Beth]

My almost-three-year-old loves this book.

[Meredith]

I'm always amazed that the flaps in this book are still intact. It's a fun bedtime book, but it's also fun at not bedtime.

[Jamie]

Blanket storytime