Maisy's Bedtime

Maisy

by Lucy Cousins

Maisy's fun and familiar world reflects favorite TV episodes—and the lively adventures young children have every day.One of four adventures familiar to children who watch Maisy on TV, in MAISY'S BEDTIME, Maisy and her friends get ready for bed. As always, toddlers, preschoolers, and parents will find the ordinary extraordinary with Maisy!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Animals, Family

Hardcover

First published August 1, 1999

About the author

Lucy Cousins, BA Honours in Graphic Design from The Faculty of Arts and Architecture, Brighton Polytechnic, postgraduate degree from Royal College of Art, is an author-illustrator of children's books. She is best known for her books featuring Maisy Mouse but she has also published other children's books including one about Noah's Ark. She is a mother of four and lives in Hampshire, England. Her own children are the inspiration for her books whose age range is 2-8.

Reviews

[Ally McCulloch · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the Maisy books so much. I think I've read this book before but that's okay. It feels like home.

[Jeremy · Rating 4 out of 5]

With grandma & papa FaceTime storytime for bed.

[Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lucy Cousins has a beautiful style that appeals to young children with her bright colors. In Maisy's Bedtime the story takes the child through a normal bedtime routine. This is an excellent book for young children to hear and relate to while learning to take care of their needs as they get ready for bed. I use the book with my preschool class when we talk about being in a routine and getting to bed so they are rested and ready for school time.

[Hannah Dumaine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maisy’s bedtime illustrates a bedtime routine that may look similar to another child’s. I chose this book to analyze for my goodreads project. In this picture book, it shows Maisy going through her routine for bed and though forgets to do some things along the way to help her sleep. Once she gets and does those last things, she is finally ready for bed. There is a lot to unpack in the first picture of Maisy’s Bedtime. Without reading the script on the left, you can already tell so much about what is going to happen in the book. There is going to be some kind of “adventure” that is going to take place. The adventure of getting ready for bed. As Nodelman explains, picture explain more than words do. There is so much that is happening that you can pick out little details, such as Maisy yawning on the first page. She is tired, and she is holding her stuffed animal, meaning she may be depicted as a younger character. She is faced to the right where the stairs are, meaning she will go up them to her place of rest, since she is tired. She is not in her pajamas yet, so she will get into them when she gets ready for bed. The clock on the wall behind her also emanates the way that the time is getting late, and it is her bedtime.

[Cheryl · Rating 2 out of 5]

I must be missing something. No bath, no story, no pajamas, no brushing of teeth, no goodnight from loved ones.... Just find Panda, remember to use the toilet, boom&done. But then, I don't recall ever reading a Maisy book before, certainly not seeing a tv show, so maybe in context it's more meaningful.

[J.P. Sirro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maisy is getting ready for bed with Panda and shows the steps she takes to go to bed, it does seem out of order and at points interesting but still a good read that my son wants to read over and over

[Freddie D · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cousins' recognisably bright, colourful illustrations tell a simple story about Maisy's bedtime routine.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maisy gets ready for bed.

This picture book shows a bedtime routine.

I appreciated the touch of realism in which Maisy forget to use the toilet and had to get back out of bed.

[Rosie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A delightful book about bedtime.

[Barbara Hahijary · Rating 5 out of 5]

My children love it! This makes one of the best simple bed time story. The plot is very simple and relatable to our everyday lives. Recommended for children under 7.

[Jessica Muir · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the Maizy books!

[Ian McHugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

The big bright colourful illustrations of Maisie's preparations for bedtime have helped Florence with her routine. Flo loves the bit where she forgets to go to the toilet and has to get up. She also loves the fact that Maudie has a panda to sleep with just like her. Extra special cuddles for panda every time we read.

[Liane Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Category: Paperback

Age: 1-3+ years

Synopsis: The Maisy the Mouse book series hails from England and features cutesy drawings in primary colors with simple, straightforward text chronicling the adventures of Maisy and her animal friends. This particular book is a lightweight paperback in which Maisy prepares for bedtime.

Bilingual benefit: In this simple story, the reader is introduced to some highly useful words and expressions in English. As Maisy is British, the book uses the British spelling for words (“pyjama” instead of the American version, “pajama”) and there are uniquely British expressions (Maisy “has a wash,” “switches off the light,” and “needs the loo”). There is also British onomatopoeia: the owl says “tuwoo.” As a native speaker of American English, I just substitute these expressions for the American versions. However, I believe it is also beneficial to expose a child to the British version of English as there are so many British English-speakers in Israel.

Availability in Israel: I found this paperback in Tzomet Sfarim in Kiryat Ono. As both Tzomet Sfarim and Steimatzky carry a large selection of Maisy books, you can probably ask them to order the book for you if you are unable to find it in one of their brick and mortar stores. In addition, the book is available for order on Amazon USA and Amazon UK.

Previewing the book: Although the book is not available for preview on Amazon USA, it can be previewed on Amazon UK. In addition, you can find several videos of people reading it out loud on YouTube. (last checked 7/10/2014)

Lil guy: A regular read.

Mama: I would buy this again and for a friend. Due to its lightness, it is also a great choice for airplane and car rides. In addition, the reference to the loo (potty, שרותים) is useful for potty-training.

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

This has the dubious distinction of being the least awful Maisy book that my troglodyte kids make me read to them repeatedly.

Unlike most Maisy books the story, such as it is, isn't a bland and featureless line. This story has a bit of arc to it. She loses Bear for a page and on repeated readings it's almost entertaining how that emotionally barren crises is set up. It's unfortunate that Maisy apparently has less emotional complexity than a bottle of Xanax, because losing a comfort object at bedtime is something that could be a source of stress and anxiety for many children. This is one of Cousins' many missed opportunities. Maybe she's actually a robot and doesn't understand human emotion. After that problem is resolved then, Maisy still isn't ready for bed, but I won't spoil the denouement.

The pictures are colorful, flat, and uninterestingly composed as always, but I think that the simple, high contrast images are easy for young visual cortexes to process.

[Jcb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is definitely a 5-star book in my house, and the best of all the Maisy books, IMO. My daughter received Maisy's Bedtime as a present when she was around 1-year old. We read it a lot back then. She particularly liked the part where Panda gets misplaced then found behind the curtain (oops, spoiler alert!). My kid is 5 now, and yet we just read this book again last night. And, she still enjoys it.

[Wendy Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maisy's Bedtime is a great book for newborns through 2 year olds that follows little Maisy through her bedtime routine. The other characters are adorable (love Talula) and showing the bedtime routine is helpful for all little ones. The narrative skills and print awareness skills both support the print motivation in this book.

[Veronica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I still do not like the drawings nor the text, it's really boring, but I must say my child loves them, which is the most important, and I think that is because she can understand everything and that gives her satisfaction. So I'd say it's a pretty good book for children more than 1 y old

[Kristie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Children will recognize these common steps to getting ready for bedtime.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cute book shows Maisy using the toilet before she goes to bed.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Panda was behind the curtain!

[Jamie Addison · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Cousins' classic. My daughter loved it.

[Niki · Rating 3 out of 5]

My four year old picked this book out himself and he loves it!

[Pinky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maisy does her bedtime routine and then heads to bed.

[Sarah Stumphf · Rating 4 out of 5]

My two year old really likes the Maisy books, and he was ready to sleep after this one!

[Katy W · Rating 4 out of 5]

All of these Maisy books are perfect for pre-schoolers. Bright colours and simple stories about things that very young children are familiar with.

[Emanuel Landeholm · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are few works of fiction I have read dozens of times. This one is up there. It's pretty amazing when you think about it.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellie read this book.

[Michelle Cropper · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series has great books for beginning readers :)

[Larisa V]

if your little one has read any other maisy books and loves them, then this is certainly the best book to go for! xx

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Board book, good for younger audiences.