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The Bed Book

Sylvia Plath, illus. Cindy Wume
Faber and Faber
Age 3-7 years

The Bed Book is a picture book version of a well-known poem written by the acclaimed American poet Sylvia Plath for her own children in 1959.

It is a playful exploration of what a bed could become with just a sprinkling of imagination. In this poem a bed is not simply a place for sleeping or resting, it might be all sorts of things. If jet propelled it would be ideal for visiting Mars, it might be a submarine exploring the ocean or an arena for a troupe of acrobats.

There is lots of humour in this picture book, which brings Plath’s popular poem to a new generation. Full of rhythmic language, it would be great fun to read aloud and may well prompt children’s own inventiveness as they imagine what else a bed might become. The illustrations are lively, colourful and amusing, perfectly matching the text.

Watch a read aloud from another illustrated version of this poem>

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Share the story

Read aloud
Read the book aloud to your child and then share again looking closely at the illustrations.

Join in
Once familiar with the story encourage your child to join in or take turns with you if they are developing confidence as readers.

Talk about the book
◼︎Which idea for what a bed might become do you each like best? Talk about this choosing a favourite idea and favourite illustration
◼︎Does your child have any other ideas of what a bed may become? Talk about these
◼︎Talk about any unfamiliar words eg ‘trundle’ or ‘automat’ and what these might mean.

NB the publisher has asterisked the words ‘eskimo’ and ‘hottentot’ you may decide to talk about this and words which would be considered more acceptable alternatives today.


Things to make and do

Phoebe is very imaginative and full of fun, in the build- up to Christmas she transformed her bed into a sleigh ready to deliver presents with reins and two reindeer, so this book was perfect for her. She enjoyed sharing it and her favourite illustration was the cat bed.

After reading the book Phoebe was keen to design her own special bed. She decided on a Princess bed and set about drawing it. Her bed had canopies and looked very grand. She also decided to add wheels so it could transport her to her castle or to court and added a boot to store her crown in and a chair to sit on when she wasn’t asleep.

Perform the poem
This is a poem designed to be read aloud and would be great to perform – you could choose a section of the poem and then decide how to perform it together. For example, you could take turns – reading alternate lines or alternate verses and perhaps read some parts in unison. You could add sound effects eg for visiting Mars – just have fun with it!

Play the story
Encourage your child to choose an idea from the story or an idea of their own and imagine their bed is not just for sleeping in, but a boat or a rocket ship or something else. They might need to gather some props to create their imaginary bed. Take photos of your child and their bed when they have set up their idea. 

Design a bed
Talk about all the kinds of beds you know – (hammocks, bunk beds, inflatables etc) suggest your child designs their own bed including  lots of special features for added fun.

Write a story
Imagine you have an inflatable pocket-sized bed – when might it be useful? What sort of adventure might you have with it? Make up a story together. Perhaps you could write it down for your child and they could illustrate it.

Find out more

◼︎See if your library has any other illustrated versions of this poem, for example there was one illustrated by Quentin Blake in 1984.

◼︎See here for information about Sylvia Plath

◼︎Find out more about illustrator Cindy Wume

◼︎Find out where children sleep throughout the world

◼︎Find out about why we sleep