Bedtime in the Jungle

by John Butler

This gorgeous bedtime story inspired by "Over in the Meadow" will lull readers to sleep as they count the members of a series of animal families.

As nighttime approaches, animal parents and their children are settling down. A monkey makes a bed for her two babies, and a leopard tucks in her three little ones. By the time readers arrive at the stunning gatefold illustration at the end of the story, a herd of ten elephant babies is nodding off, and silence finally settles over the jungle.

John Butler's richly illustrated rhyming story will soothe and comfort readers of all ages.

Genres: Picture Books, Animals, Storytime, Childrens, Counting, Cats, Number

32 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

writer and illustrator - lives in Kent, South East England.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautifully illustrated. My youngest loves this book. It's a bedtime counting book along the lines of "Over in the meadow..." So many riffs of that

[Shandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely!!!

[Susan Schuler · Rating 5 out of 5]

All of Mr. Butler's books are great for baby time and this is no exception.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Currently, my 2 year old boys' fav book

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

A jungle twist to Over in the Meadow. Not bad. Will be a good display for my Toddler Jungle/safari theme, but would read well too. Those baby crocodiles--adorable!!

[Erin Buhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a gentle jungle animal bedtime story. Dusk is falling in the jungle and the animals and little babies from one to ten are getting ready for bed. It's rhythmic repetition and quiet photos will send little ones off to dreamland. A great bedtime story.

[Asho · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know I'm a sucker for any book that riffs on the "Over in the Meadow" song. The rhythm didn't always work perfectly here, but it was good enough to be sing-able. We liked the relaxing illustrations as well. Perhaps not the most memorable bedtime book we've ever read, but a nice one nonetheless!

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quiet and sweet. Great to end a storytime.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely bedtime counting story.

[Isaac · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet little counting book!

[Abby Peskin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very sweet rhyming book about all of the jungle animals going to sleep, counting up to ten in the rhyme.

[Mrs Heet -Librarian · Rating 3 out of 5]

A simple and sweet bedtime counting book. I plan on using this for a toddler storytime, but I think counting all the way to 10 with this book might be too long.

[Cara Byrne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has a great pace for a bedtime book, and my little ones loved counting the different creatures on each page.

[Aaron Siclovan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is about ten different jungle animals. The sun was setting and the sunset reminded the animals it was time to prepare for bed. The first animal was a rhino who had one baby. Mother rhino told her baby to sleep and her baby told her that he would sleep. On the next page there is a mother monkey with two babies. She told her babies to rest and they said that they would. On each page is a different animal and their babies increase by one more. The last mother that is described is an elephant with ten babies. Each mother had a different expression to tell her babies it was bedtime. Some of these examples are snuggle, quiet, settle, and snooze. There were 10 different words the mother's used when tucking her babies in to sleep.

John Butler is the author and illustrator of this book. The pictures were created by using Acrylic and colored pencils. The love on the mothers' faces was depicted with excellence, showing that they love their babies very much. This delightful book is written in poem form. Children will enjoy guessing how many babies are on each page because the numbers go in sequence. The last page unfolds to reveal a larger page, which is a pleasant surprise for the very young children that this book is written for. An owl watches over the sleeping mothers and babies all night.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My five-year-old son picked this book out from the library today. He likes counting books.

Somehow I missed any reference to this book being written to fit with the tune "Over in the Meadow". By the end of the first verse, I twigged on. (Thank you, Marianne Berkes, for your many books set to that tune.) Once I started singing it, my son liked it better. And it was good. But it was not quite as good as Marianne Berkes' Over in the Jungle.

The illustrations were very lovely, especially the tigers on the front, but they were lacking that little extra oomph that makes some illustrations spectacular.

[Alissa Faust · Rating 4 out of 5]

To sing or not to sing? I never know what to do when books clearly follow a song. This is set to the lilt of "Over in the Meadow" so I end up singing some pages, reading others. The kids don't seem to mind! My kids loved rhyming the number of animal babies into the song. I loved the illustrations which made each animal appear life like, yet soft enough to touch. My kids of course loved the flap on the elephant page and each had to take a turn lifting the flap to count each elephant.

[Ariel Cummins · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must confess I had never heard "Over in the Meadow" until I saw that this book was written to the tune of the song. It's a story about all the animals of the jungle going to sleep with their babies, with counting to boot.

The colored pencil illustrations are soft and gentle, and lull the reader in to sleep (hopefully!).

A fine book for a bedtime story time, or for reading at bedtime (duh!)

[Quaesha]

Setting: The Jungle
Awards: None

Bedtime in the Jungle is a counting book that also incorporates rhyming and poetry like elements into the story. As the animals lay their young to rest, the quiet, rhythmic tone will surely have children fast asleep. This is a great story than can be read to young children, as well as preschoolers during their nap time or bed time.

[carissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recommended Ages: toddlers - pre-K

This is a very sweet book about animals in the jungle going to bed. It incorporates rhyming text and counting. The illustrations are done in acrylic and colored pencil and are very life-like.

[Kate McCartney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautiful bedtime book. I love "Over in the Meadow" and all the adaptations to it. Butler does a great job with his version set in the jungle. I love all the jungle animals. Butlers illustrations are as cute and sweet as ever.

[The Library Lady · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would NOT recommend trying to sing this to "Over In the Meadow"--the rhymes all work but the rhythm of each is different and the song would not flow smoothly. They're adequate verse though and the art is luminous and beautiful.

[Miss Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very calming and sweet. Ten different animals are put to bed in the jungle and each repeats the action of getting ready for bed that their parent says. Toddler and up for length and toddler has to be the right group.

[Valerie · Rating 2 out of 5]

in the style of "Over in the meadow" - nice pictures for use in a storytime crowd about the jungle,

[Kim]

A nice counting book with pastel pictures of the jungle moms tucking their babies into bed.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love John Butler. To the tune of "Over in the Meadow."

Another adorable book, perfect for babytime/bedtime.

[Connie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet images of baby animals and their parents. Great rhyming text used to count animal babies from 1 to 10. Large double-page illustrations make this a nice one for storytime/use with a group.

[Vivian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Butler's animals are irresistable! Count 1 to 10 as baby animals are tucked in for the night.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Preschool/Toddler

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a precious counting book. The muted colors of the jungle and the animals set the perfect tone for a naptime or bedtime story.

[Sarah Stumphf · Rating 5 out of 5]

My two year old really seemed to like this bedtime story that combines beautiful pictures of animals and counting. He likes counting the babies on each page.