The Bed Book

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

The text is accessible and very playful, exploring what a bed could become with a sprinkling of imagination. The writer suggests that a bed is not simply a place for sleeping or resting, it can be much more interesting than that. For example, if it was jet propelled it would be ideal for visiting Mars, it might form an arena for a troupe of acrobats to perform their gymnastics or a submarine exploring the ocean.

This is an amusing picture book, bringing Plath’s popular poem to a new generation. 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.