Mommy, I Want to Sleep in Your Bed!

by Harriet Ziefert, Elliot Kreloff (Illustrator)

Good night, sleepy parakeet. Good night, sleepy dog. Good night, sleepy Charlie. But wait! Charlie doesn't want to go to sleepnot all by himself in his own bed. With the help of his patient mom, Charlie works through a problem all young children faceputting their busy days to rest. Mommy, I Want to Sleep in Your Bed! will encourage other children to do the same and help them understand in a sweet and sympathetic way, that sleeping alone is an important step in growing up.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Art

40 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Harriet Ziefert grew up in North Bergen, New Jersey, where she attended the local schools. She graduated from Smith College, then received a Masters degree in Education from New York University.

For many years, Ziefert was an elementary school teacher. She taught most grades from kindergarten to fifth grade. "I liked it," she said, but she stopped teaching when she had her own sons. When her children were older, Ziefert wanted "a bigger arena" for her work. She went to work at a publishing company, Scholastic in New York City, developing materials for teacher's guides for kindergarten language arts and social studies programs.

"About twelve years ago," says Ziefert in a 1995 interview, "I tried to get a job as an editor, but no one would hire me as a trade editor. So I decided to write my own books." Since then, she has written several hundred books, mostly picture books and easy-to-read books. "I write books very quickly," she says, "in about twelve hours. I rewrite them three times over three days, and then they're done." She writes about twenty books a year.

Reviews

[Nicoeduca]

Edad recomendada: 2-5 años
Tema: dormir sólo en la cama

[Edward Sojuwa]

In this story, Susan is a little girl who can't seem to fall asleep, and she won't give up until her parents allow her to sleep in their bed. Finally mom decides to give her a tip about how to sleep, but as soon as she leaves, Susan tries the same trick on her stuffed doll: telling a bedtime story until sleep comes to both her and the doll. As kids we tend to be nervous about sleeping away from our parents when they've nurtured us for those first years. This book makes the transition easier, as only Harriet Zeifert can do.
Three stars
Zeifert will help you gets your ZZZZZs!

[Jill]

I have given this a 5 perhaps with the hope (ever optimistic?) that this might actually lead to the desired resolution! Sophie at 3 1/2 is very interested in the concepts here and has requested this book half a dozen times in 2 days, but I'm not sure that it's going to change her behavior anytime soon either. Still, she really likes Charlie the dog and I found it to be a cute (and accurate) representation of one kind of family (i.e. not co-sleeping).

[Maryam]

After the little boy dog and his parents say goodnight to their bird, their rabbit, and baby sister, they do have a couple of ups and downs, he eventually soothes himself by telling his stuffed toy a story. Childlike endearing pictures, interesting details, and repetitive phrases make this a comforting and satisfying story.

[Karelle Royal]

Nice book to read to Pre-K & K students.
The story about a little boy who is afraid of sleeping in his own bed.
Good to use to teach about growing up & expectations for big girls & boys.
Addresses fears that little kids have and provides problem-solving techniques.

[Mike]

Its been a good one to share with my daughter as she continues to struggle with staying in her own bed. She has requested re-reading of the book multiple times. It has been funny as we have seen her telling her dolls and animals that they need to go to sleep in their beds.

[Naomi]

A good book focused on teaching kids about sleeping in their own beds. Still felt kind of cold to me. Illustrations were simplistic to meet the story text. There are better books out there on this subject.

[Jenna Arntz]

This was an okay read. The illustrations were not very detailed or exciting. However, this would be a good read for younger children who do not want to sleep alone in their beds at night. I would probably read this to my kindergarten students.

[Beck]

Didn't come near to loving it, and I was a little surprised the illustrator is an adult, but I'm a sucker for the kid's dolly.

[Alshaimaa]

sleeping alone is an important step in growing up.
so convincing:)

[Jessica Thompson]

My son calls this the "sad doggy book"
And asked for it nightly! I think it helped him through a phase of asking to sleep in our bed.

[Bethe]

Basic story of a dog family in which the boy wants to sleep with parents, love how mom is reading in bed, but why didn't they read Pablo a story the first time they put him to bed?

[Little Champs]

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