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One Ted Falls Out of Bed
When Ted falls out of bed, three tearaway mice whisk him off on a breathtaking adventure. They zoom around in fast cars, go on a balloon ride and climb a building-block mountain. It`s all very exciting, but will it get Ted back to bed? This book`s counting theme is perfectly woven into a magical, rhythmic text. A future classic from the award-winning author of THE GRUFFALO and THE GRUFFALO`S CHILD.
32 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2004
About the author
Julia Donaldson
1,239 books2,011 followersGrowing up
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
I grew up in a tall Victorian London house with my parents, grandmother, aunt, uncle, younger sister Mary and cat Geoffrey (who was really a prince in disguise. Mary and I would argue about which of us would marry him).
Mary and I were always creating imaginary characters and mimicking real ones, and I used to write shows and choreograph ballets for us. A wind-up gramophone wafted out Chopin waltzes.
I studied Drama and French at Bristol University, where I met Malcolm, a guitar-playing medic to whom I’m now married.
Busking and books
Before Malcolm and I had our three sons we used to go busking together and I would write special songs for each country; the best one was in Italian about pasta.
The busking led to a career in singing and songwriting, mainly for children’s television. I became an expert at writing to order on such subjects as guinea pigs, window-cleaning and horrible smells. “We want a song about throwing crumpled-up wrapping paper into the bin” was a typical request from the BBC.
I also continued to write “grown-up” songs and perform them in folk clubs and on the radio, and have recently released two CDs of these songs.
One of my television songs, A SQUASH AND A SQUEEZE, was made into a book in 1993, with illustrations by the wonderful Axel Scheffler. It was great to hold the book in my hand without it vanishing in the air the way the songs did. This prompted me to unearth some plays I’d written for a school reading group, and since then I’ve had 20 plays published. Most children love acting and it’s a tremendous way to improve their reading.
My real breakthrough was THE GRUFFALO, again illustrated by Axel. We work separately - he’s in London and I’m in Glasgow - but he sends me letters with lovely funny pictures on the envelopes.
I really enjoy writing verse, even though it can be fiendishly difficult. I used to memorise poems as a child and it means a lot to me when parents tell me their child can recite one of my books.
Funnily enough, I find it harder to write not in verse, though I feel I am now getting the hang of it! My novel THE GIANTS AND THE JONESES is going to be made into a film by the same team who made the Harry Potter movies, and I have written three books of stories about the anarchic PRINCESS MIRROR-BELLE who appears from the mirror and disrupts the life of an otherwise ordinary eight-year-old. I have just finished writing a novel for teenagers.
When I’m not writing I am often performing, at book festivals and in theatres. I really enjoy getting the children in the audience to help me act out the stories and sing the songs. When Malcolm can take time off from the hospital he and his guitar come too. and it feels as if we’ve come full circle - back to busking.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews
July 29, 2022
4 stars - English hardcover
Review follows later.
Review follows later.
August 12, 2013
I read this to my little nephew and he really enjoyed. I also thoroughly enjoyed reading it to him as the lyrical rhyming creates an excellent flow to the story.
The story consists of a little teddy that falls out of his owner’s bed. From here we get an account of Ted’s adventure trying to get back into the bed moving up a number ladder each time e.g. three mice, four cars and five bright stars etc. The counting to nine continues, when they try to build a stairs back up to the bed, but a big crash and it falls. Here Donaldson cleverly counts backward through the sequence provided earlier in the book and one ted ends up back in the bed.
This book is most suitable for children aged 2-6 and would be an excellent bedtime story. Currey's soft illustrations also match up with bedtime theme, helping to relax a sleepy child into slumber.
In relation to child development, the rhyming and lyrical pattern in the book is very good for children’s language development. As the story is centred round counting up and down it is also a very good book for young children’s numeracy.
To conclude, Donaldson is a very clever children’s author that create fun books for children to enjoy and learn. This book is no exception and I would highly recommend it as a fun bedtime story or to boost childrens counting understanding.
The story consists of a little teddy that falls out of his owner’s bed. From here we get an account of Ted’s adventure trying to get back into the bed moving up a number ladder each time e.g. three mice, four cars and five bright stars etc. The counting to nine continues, when they try to build a stairs back up to the bed, but a big crash and it falls. Here Donaldson cleverly counts backward through the sequence provided earlier in the book and one ted ends up back in the bed.
This book is most suitable for children aged 2-6 and would be an excellent bedtime story. Currey's soft illustrations also match up with bedtime theme, helping to relax a sleepy child into slumber.
In relation to child development, the rhyming and lyrical pattern in the book is very good for children’s language development. As the story is centred round counting up and down it is also a very good book for young children’s numeracy.
To conclude, Donaldson is a very clever children’s author that create fun books for children to enjoy and learn. This book is no exception and I would highly recommend it as a fun bedtime story or to boost childrens counting understanding.
July 5, 2013
This delightful book is about a teddy bear who falls out of bed in the night and has to figure out how to get back in to bed. The story describes all the fun he has in the night with all his friends that are in the bedroom. I personally like the book because it flows really well and I enjoy the lyrical quality of the story. It's simple yet made engaging for children through the detailed illustrations and the counting and rhyming.
This book is really well suited for children aged 0-7 years. It's a great book for helping children to learn how to count forwards and backwards. It can inspire children's imaginations due to the toys coming to life at night. This could also lead onto children comparing their homes, bedrooms and toys with their school environment, therefore, it's great for carpet discussions. The rhyming couplets throughout the story could also be used to inspire creative writing and in particular help with poetry for key stage one children. This book could also be used for guided reading due to the repetitiveness of the counting. All in all Julia Donaldson and Anna Currey have written a brilliant yet simple story that should be kept on Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One bookshelves.
This book is really well suited for children aged 0-7 years. It's a great book for helping children to learn how to count forwards and backwards. It can inspire children's imaginations due to the toys coming to life at night. This could also lead onto children comparing their homes, bedrooms and toys with their school environment, therefore, it's great for carpet discussions. The rhyming couplets throughout the story could also be used to inspire creative writing and in particular help with poetry for key stage one children. This book could also be used for guided reading due to the repetitiveness of the counting. All in all Julia Donaldson and Anna Currey have written a brilliant yet simple story that should be kept on Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One bookshelves.
January 19, 2014
‘One Ted Falls Out of Bed’, by Julia Donaldson, is a delightful story about a bear’s adventures on the night he fell out of bed. Ted the bear meets all sorts of characters, such as the 3 mice and the 7 trolls and gets up to all sorts of mischief as the story counts up to ten, then back down until Ted is back in bed.
In terms of use in the classroom, this story could be used quite effectively in early year’s mathematics. This is because the author uses clear and easily relatable objects and toys to count up to ten, then back down again. From this, a reception teacher could develop a child’s knowledge of counting forwards and backwards, then extend this to ordering numbers to ten. This story also gives a physical representation of each number. Also, this story could be used in a year 1 class to inspire imaginative writing, encouraging children to pick a special toy and write about what may happen whilst they are asleep.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and believe that it would be very useful in a nursery, reception or year 1 class.
In terms of use in the classroom, this story could be used quite effectively in early year’s mathematics. This is because the author uses clear and easily relatable objects and toys to count up to ten, then back down again. From this, a reception teacher could develop a child’s knowledge of counting forwards and backwards, then extend this to ordering numbers to ten. This story also gives a physical representation of each number. Also, this story could be used in a year 1 class to inspire imaginative writing, encouraging children to pick a special toy and write about what may happen whilst they are asleep.
Overall, I really enjoyed this story and believe that it would be very useful in a nursery, reception or year 1 class.
November 29, 2012
This book is about a little teddy bear who falls out of bed at night, and since he can't reach the bed to climb back in, he decides to play with some of the other toys. After a while though, he begins to miss bed and makes stairs using one, two, three..... TEN RED BRICKS which then crash. There are a lot of numbers being used, from the number of toys he plays with up to ten bricks and then it counts backwards down to "Two eyes open wide. And one ted... Is back in bed."
There is lots of rhyme which could be introduced briefly to Early Years children.
This book could be used on a topic about Toys which my current Reception class have been focusing on, and could be recreated using real toys in the classroom to aid counting.
The illustrations are wonderful and the text reflects how the story could be read so children would enjoy reading it as a class.
There is lots of rhyme which could be introduced briefly to Early Years children.
This book could be used on a topic about Toys which my current Reception class have been focusing on, and could be recreated using real toys in the classroom to aid counting.
The illustrations are wonderful and the text reflects how the story could be read so children would enjoy reading it as a class.
January 17, 2014
One ted falls out of bed is a simple but really sweet story that has become a favourite in our house. It is beautifully illustrated and seems to be one of the books my daughter heads for first. I do think it is a little short but it is so far the best counting story I have came across.
Definitely a family favourite.
Definitely a family favourite.
February 11, 2019
This book is a great way to engage kids in talking about the kids they sleep with at night. it is also a great way to introduce their counting skills. It has great pictures to keeps the kids attention while they are being read too and it is easy for new beginner readers. I also really like this book because it rhymes and having the kids recognize that is a great thing and allow them to find things in the book that is explaining the rhyme.
May 3, 2020
First read: April 2020
A new favourite of Evan's because he loves counting! Didn't realise it was by Julia Donaldson until we'd finished and mummy thought 'what a great story' and then saw the author and thought 'of course' - she's our favourite children's author.
A new favourite of Evan's because he loves counting! Didn't realise it was by Julia Donaldson until we'd finished and mummy thought 'what a great story' and then saw the author and thought 'of course' - she's our favourite children's author.
May 30, 2017
Testing
September 15, 2018
Good and simple book to use, it can help with counting activities.
January 2, 2019
Lovely book ....and interesting illustrations...
January 18, 2019
A counting Book which tickles the imagination of little ones and makes them wonder what their fav cuddly soft toy would have been doing if it falls out of bed.
August 20, 2019
This was the first book I read my child and until very recently could recite it by heart
August 22, 2019
lovely simple counting book, great for a bedtime story.
Read
September 26, 2019This is a good book for early years to help with counting to 10.
November 14, 2019
A cute counting book
January 6, 2020
This is a good book for counting but it isn't my favorite. I found myself skimming through it. It's not my favorite.
January 24, 2020
The granddaughters loved it
July 6, 2020
Another true beauty from Julia Donaldson.
March 12, 2021
Not my favorite of Julia Donaldson's. A ho hum counting book that is fairly forgettable.
April 13, 2021
Solidly cute and maybe could have been a favourite had we discovered it in the toddler years.
April 25, 2022
Cute story and illustrations. Liked the counting up then counting down and ending with child in bed asleep
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 7, 2022
A superb counting story for little ones.
June 29, 2023
A toy story that counts to ten, then down again. Fun rhyming too. One with the lot to amuse young children.
December 29, 2025
My daughter loves this book. she's made me read it multiple times since receiving it on Boxing Day. Another great by Julia Donaldson!
February 23, 2017
Book is okay! Collecting it for my little one!
February 19, 2017
A cute little book which counts up then down, following Ted's adventure on the floor after falling out of bed.
September 7, 2014
A delightfully simple counting story, One Ted Falls Out of Bed tells the story of the adventures one little girl's teddy has, when he falls out of bed, and his journey to get back where he came from.
The story begins with Ted discovering the different toys and creatures that inhabit the little girl's room at night, from the three mice he first meets right up to the nine frogs playing musical instruments. There are pictures alongside each line of the story, so children can practise their counting independently. Ted then tries to build a staircase up to the bed, giving children another opportunity to count right up to ten and then back down to one again.
Julia Donaldson fans expect high standards, and this story is not as interesting and engaging as some of her other books. There is an sweet storyline though, one that any young child with a teddy or treasured soft toy can relate to, and there is a lovely flowing rhythm to the narrative. It is a shame there are no numerals to accompany the pictures and the words. However, when used together with counting rhymes and other activities, it is a lovely resource for reinforcing young children's numerical knowledge.
The story begins with Ted discovering the different toys and creatures that inhabit the little girl's room at night, from the three mice he first meets right up to the nine frogs playing musical instruments. There are pictures alongside each line of the story, so children can practise their counting independently. Ted then tries to build a staircase up to the bed, giving children another opportunity to count right up to ten and then back down to one again.
Julia Donaldson fans expect high standards, and this story is not as interesting and engaging as some of her other books. There is an sweet storyline though, one that any young child with a teddy or treasured soft toy can relate to, and there is a lovely flowing rhythm to the narrative. It is a shame there are no numerals to accompany the pictures and the words. However, when used together with counting rhymes and other activities, it is a lovely resource for reinforcing young children's numerical knowledge.
September 1, 2011
This picture book tells the journey of Ted's adventure back into his bed, whilst incorporating numeracy -focusing on counting from one to ten. It is a simple picture book and would be inviting to a younger child due to the illustrations and short sentances on each page, making the book attractive to a younger reader. It is a complex story, a situation the younger reader might relate to; when their favourite bed time toy falls out of bed and the child awakening when they feel their toy missing. This book also animates the younger reader's imagination, as it shows the toys in the story being alive, for example the trolls fighting. Overall a well illustrated picture book with an imaginative story.
March 9, 2009
Sweet story and beautiful illustrations! The child in the story inadvertently loses his bear when sleeping. The bear has some small adventures in an attempt to get back into bed, and is eventually reunited when the child sleepily retrieves the bear off the floor in those mid-slumber not-really-awake moments.
Great counting book perfect for the toddler and preschool crowd. The illustrations contain just the right amount of detail that will keep them engaged and is true to the text. Some counting books have complex illustrations that make it difficult for preschoolers to locate the counted items because of their arrangement on the page. This one has most of the counted objects organized from left to right, making it easier for the early counter to master the concept.
Great counting book perfect for the toddler and preschool crowd. The illustrations contain just the right amount of detail that will keep them engaged and is true to the text. Some counting books have complex illustrations that make it difficult for preschoolers to locate the counted items because of their arrangement on the page. This one has most of the counted objects organized from left to right, making it easier for the early counter to master the concept.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 68 reviews