Time for Bed, Baby Ted (review)

Ah, bedtime antics. In this rhyming story, Dad is ready to tuck baby Ted in for the night when Ted begins a lengthy series of imaginative and evasive pretends, inviting his father to guess what non-bedgoing critter he is now. Ted works his way through ten animals, from the more common duck and mouse to the more unlikely porcupine and seal, and in response to each performance, the endlessly patient father simply states, "Let's get this baby _____ ready for bed." The irregular rhythms and line lengths mandate a few practice readings, especially in light of the text's challenging duration, and some of the verses strain a bit for sound and sense ("Let's get this baby seal ready for bed./ We'll BARK him up, dive deep in the DARK,/ and tuck him QUIETLY into bed"). The good humor remains true to the end, though, when Ted gets himself settled down for the night, and the playful internal rhymes and followable end-rhymes (it's all about rhyming with "Ted") provide structure and appeal. Illustratively, the figures are a bland at times, but Ted is an expressive little tot with a tousled head of hair and brightly hued pajamas, and the gleam in his eye suggests that he may be just as much of a handful in the waking hours as he is at close of day. Those willing to embrace some hectic fun at bedtime will want to check this out; it may find even more use in a wide-awake storytime, where little ones can try their hand at their own snapping, quacking, hopping, hanging, waddling, etc.