Silly Lullaby

by Sandra Boynton

What’s the best way to say good night? With a silly lullaby from the beloved and bestselling Sandra Boynton.

It all starts with the big bear observing to the little bear in the red footie pajamas:

Your pajamas are on.
There’s a duck on your head.
I think that this means
you are ready for bed.

Curl up with your favorite little person and this charmingly unpredictable go-to-sleep book. Whether you are a parent, child, or just another snoozing chicken in the bathtub, Silly Lullaby is truly a sweet dream surprise. The sneakers in the freezer heartily concur.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Music, Humor, Storytime, Fiction, Animals

16 pages, Board Book

First published January 1, 2019

About the author

Sandra Keith Boynton is an American humorist, songwriter, director, music producer, children's author, and illustrator. Boynton has written and illustrated over eighty-five books for children and seven general audience books, as well as over four thousand greeting cards, and seven music albums. She has also designed calendars, wallpaper, bedding, stationery, paper goods, clothing, jewelry, and plush toys for various companies.

Reviews

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance]

We just don't have enough fun in our world today. So thank heavens for Sandra Boynton who pops out these wonderful, clever, and completely silly stories for the very youngest of our world.

This little board book has a bear dad singing his little bear child to sleep with a wacky song, a song so random that it just may inspire parents to create their own personal zany off-to-bed tune.

[Becky]

First sentence: Your pajamas are on. There’s a duck on your head. I think that this means you are ready for bed.

Premise/plot: Calling all zoodles and noodles, it’s bedtime! This is a reprint of a book originally published in 1997. If you’re not familiar with Sandra Boynton’s work, this would be a great one to start with!

My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I did. It isn’t unusual for bedtime stories to feature lullabies. This one features a very silly lullaby full of silly words and mix-ups. Mix-ups like owls mooing.

[Valerie]

So cute! I loved it and so did my grandson. Full of fun rhymes that make you giggle. A great story for bedtime.

[Halli]

You know it's time for bed when your pajamas are on and there's a duck on your head! Quite possibly the silliest bedtime book I've ever read. My storytime kids LOVED it and were full of giggles.

[Joel]

Boynton's books are so hit-or-miss for me. This one is going straight back to the library.

[Everett Earles]

Sandra Boynton is such a funny gal but my parents keep trying to sing this lullaby to me, and I’m like, y’all just don’t sound good? Leave the singing to the professionals?

[Olivia]

An excellent and incredibly deep, thoughtful read. Four stars only because I’m musically illiterate and make up an entirely different tune every time I sing the song.

[Narmeen]

I have this song memorized in my made up tune for my toddlers bedtime, and she loves it!

[Aarvik]

Okay read for sleeping.

[Shandra]

Somehow I missed this one until now - a delightfully silly little bedtime story.

[Margot Watts]

Mom’s musical background helped her sing this lullaby accurately in line with the music notes provided, which improved the quality of reading experience here.

[Chrisanne]

Good fun. Though starting giggle fits doesn't put your average kid to sleep.

[Tatyana Shestopalova]

Silly lullaby? More like stupid lullaby 🙄

[Olivia]

Boynton is a hit with toddlers, and this is another charming book that makes it easy to see why. SILLY LULLABY is full of delightful nonsense. The book contains a song that is a completely ridiculous lullaby, with the chickens in the bathtub, a closet full of sheep, and sneakers in the freezer. The book contains the musical bars to allow you to follow the made up tune. If, like me, you are out of practice at reading music, you can listen to the song (or download it) from sillylullaby dot com. This helped me a lot.

What I loved: This book is complete nonsense, and toddlers will certainly love it. They can understand that the owl should not be saying moo and that sneakers don't belong in the freezer and love that they are in on the joke. The actual song is really well composed and clever. The book is short with very clear text, making this a great choice to read out loud. It is also very interactive which can help with settling young children down before bed. Although this may spark some giggles, it's a really fun read with a lovely melody (once you learn it) that will certainly appeal to the young audience. The illustrations are perfectly suited to the book with plenty of bright colors and cute, cartoonish animals.

Final verdict: Delightfully ridiculous, SILLY LULLABY is a fun addition to any Boynton collection. Toddlers will adore the jokes that appeal to their level plus the great illustrations and lovely melody. This is a quick and fun board book that can be used as a bedtime- or just-for-fun- book.

Please note that I received a review copy. All opinions are my own.

[Tonja Drecker]

Silliness hits high in this sweet little lullaby which makes absolutely little sense and will have those tired eyes happily ready for bed time.

This is a short, cute and absolutely ridiculous book. The first line might sound normal, but already with the second, nonsense starts and will have kids saying 'huh?' before diving into a world of giggles, snorts and nonsense. When the lullaby really gets underway, it starts with an accompanying tune, written out for those who might be ready to sing this thing. And it is worth singing..again...and again...and again...and again...

The illustrations are bright and allow the silliness to be shown without adding to it...too much. These too will have kids flipping through again and again as they soon sing the song on their own.

My kids found this book hilarious (although I did lift my eyebrows at first) and insist it's a definite 5-star read.

[Kate M. Colby]

Jack borrowed this book from the Oxford Public Library. He was happily playing with toys when the librarian started to pick them up at 10:30 (apparently, they are pretty committed to the end of toy time), so I grabbed all the "new-to-him" Sandra Boynton board books I could see as a distraction.

Dada and I read this book to Jack before bed. Jack sat on my lap and Dada started reading the book, but he wasn't getting the tune, so I took over. As promised, the book is incredibly silly and basically makes no sense. But Jack seemed to like the animals, as usual, and how Dada and I were laughing and I was cuddling him.

[Mavis’s Dad]

Low brow children’s literature, even when advertised as such with a ridiculous name, is still terrible.

Moral: If there is a duck on your head, it’s time for bed.

Length: With every turn of this 12 page book, I really hoped there was an end in sight. This is one of those rare instances where too little is too much.

Favorite Line: The owl is whispering “moo.”

Overall impression: It pains me to honor this book of fibblety-fitsy foo with one star, as it’s so incredibly awful. So grab your sneakers out of the freezer and drain the bathtub of your chickens and prepare to be mesmerized by an author’s work so bad, it could only have been written by Sandra Boynton.

[Erin Buhr]

This book begins "Your pajamas are on. There's a duck on your head. I think that this means you are ready for bed." The silliness that follows will not surprise Boynton fans. In the middle is a gibberish lullaby that may just be the song your little ones insist on hearing every single night for months to come. Boynton is back with another delightful board book full of goofy words, cheerful animals (including my favorites - the chickens) and a book that your toddler will want to read again and again. A board book definitely worthy of the Boynton name.

[Alicia]

In true Boynton form, we see a child and caregiver singing a very silly song in preparation for bed. The book is full of nonsense and Boynton's signature illustration style with cheeky characters, but the song is provided on the page as sheet music, which some readers may find inaccessible.

For: readers wanting a cute book about putting one's child to bed.

Possible red flags: nonsense; sheet music.

[John]

I like this book because of the part with "I love you, Fitsy Foo," and also I like the part where it shows the shows in the fridge all drifting off to sleep? And I like the part too where there's chickens in the bathtub and a closet full of sheep. "Goodnight, Fitsy Foo."

[Lil Old Bookworm]

I adore Sandra Boynton. Her stories are funny, the drawings are charming and adorable, and I always know when I pick up one of her books, both my daughter and I are going to enjoy it. This is a fun book perfect for bedtime. My daughter loves the silly song.

[Mort's Kids]

Are you ready for a silly lullaby? Because this is *very* silly.

A bit of a dangerous book if your kid gets into it. And the cute is funny the first time but I'm not sure it would age well. Lord knows if the tune is any good--I can't sing well enough to know.

[Andrea (andreareadsalot)]

Read aloud to my 7 month old. It’s cute and we’ll definitely be reading this one again. I want to buy this one!

Facts about this book:
• Board book
• Colorful
• A variety of cute animals
• Bedtime song

[Jennifer]

Oh I wish this came in a regular size, or a big board book! It's so much fun and the kids would love it in story time, but the board book is too small for everyone to see. Silly and fun lullaby song that will make kids laugh.

[Kelly {SpaceOnTheBookcase]]

Silly Lullaby by Sandra Boynton is the perfect book to put your little one to sleep hearing. With silly rhythms and bright illustrations, little ones will fall in love with this chicken centered lullaby book.

Thank you Simon Kids for the gifted copy.

[Stephanie]

A fun read, as always

[Mary]

Super cute and silly! Sure to be a bedtime favorite!

[Erin]

My kids are always a Sandra fan. I'll have to look up how the song actually goes online, because I am guessing I was off. 😆

[Brindi Michele]

this is fun for a pajama storytime/program

[Lisa]

Simple and surprisingly fun :)