The Biggest Bed in the World [Hardcover]

Lindsay Camp (Author), Jonathan Langley (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up

"How am I supposed to sleep like this?"

Ben's dad can't seem to get a good night's sleep. There are too many children in his bed!

First, there's Ben, and then there's Ben's Brother Billy. Soon the twins, Beth and Bart arrive. And then...yikes!...Brittany, Bella, and Boris are born!

Ben's dad decides to build the biggest bed in the world. But the world's biggest bed also turns out to be the world's heaviest bed....Uh-oh!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A family bed seems like a good idea when Mom and Dad have only one small baby, but as that baby grows, and as more children (including sets of twins and triplets, all with names beginning with "B") are added to the brood, bleary-eyed Dad keeps wondering, "How am I supposed to sleep like this?" Desperate, he makes the biggest bed in the world--"so big, he had to knock down several walls to make enough room for it." When that leads to a comic disaster, he bans everybody but Mom from the parental bedroom then realizes that sleeping ? deux feels "well, a little empty." Dad finally dozes off when everybody is back under the same covers. With a succinct text and tightly rendered, pastel-hued pictures, Camp (Hippo's River Caf?) and Langley (The Three Little Kittens in the Enchanted Forest) gently push the chaotic realities of everyday family life to a logical and hilarious conclusion. Their keen sense of hyperbole never spins out of control: even when Dad's enormous bed crashes through the house's walls and goes barreling out to sea, the story still retains a cheeky ring of truth. Ages 3-6. (Feb.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Baby Ben loves to sleep with his mom and dad, so after the birth of brother Billy, Ben's dad buys a bigger bed. After the twins are born, its back to the store for the biggest bed they have. The birth of triplets leads to knocking down a few walls and building "the biggest bed in the world," but the weakened house falls down and sends the enormous bed skidding down a hill and into the sea. Finally, Dad and Mom provide bunk beds for the children and a double bed for themselves, but the family (parents, children, pets, stuffed animals) still sleep best crowded into one bed. Langley's appealing, pencil-and-watercolor artwork will immediatley draw preschoolers to this warm-hearted family's predicament. Well cadenced for reading aloud, the story has an understated humor that is reflected in the gently amusing details of the illustrations. A good choice for story time. Carolyn Phelan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (February 16, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060286873
• ISBN-13: 978-0060286873
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 8.8 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #779,820 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I love this book!, July 16, 2001

By 

Kelly "kelly" (United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Biggest Bed in the World (Hardcover)

This is the cutest book I've read in a long time, and my daughter loves it. Its the story of a Co-Sleeping family and the daddy's quest for more room to sleep. He builds the biggest bed in the world, and when that doesn't work out, he builds individual beds for all of the children in another room - only to find out he can't sleep without them because he's lonely!

This book captures the joys and tribulations of co-sleeping families perfectly. We all sometimes wake up with a foot in our face and think "why are we doing this?" - but waking up all snuggled up with our children is one of life's sweetest moments. This book captures it in a funny, delightful, and heartwarming way!

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Children's Book of Co-Sleeping!, August 19, 2000

By 

Susan McBride - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Biggest Bed in the World (Hardcover)

I stumbled upon this book in the library yesterday and immediately came online to order copies for all my friends. This book provides a fun (and truthful) look at co-sleeping families. As children are added to the family (and the bed), dad decides that to get some sleep he must get a bigger bed. At some point he becomes frustrated with the arrangement and puts the children in their own beds only to discover that he misses them and can't sleep without them. Families who practice this form of parenting will love seeing it in print. As a co-sleeping parent, I easily relate to the dad in this book. I agree that sometimes this sleeping arrangement is frustrating, but those times never outweigh the warmth and closeness that we share with our children during sleep. I'm so grateful there's a book that portrays that, and thrilled to see breastfeeding represented in the illustrations, as well. Note to Amazon: link this book to all the William Sears' and La Leche books, not to mention Tine Thevenin's The Family Bed and you'd sell lots!

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Family Bed AND Breastfeeding, February 23, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Biggest Bed in the World (Hardcover)

A lovely book, beautiful drawings, funny story. The family bed keeps getting bigger with each additional baby, until the bed is so big it falls out of the house. Dad decides they'll now sleep separately but misses everyone too much, and they all end up back together in the big happy family bed. One drawing shows mom breastfeeding, other illustrations show her holding a baby with her shirt unbuttoned, as though just done or about to breastfeed. How heartwarming to see a mainstream publisher put out a book highlighting attachment-parenting practices. I hope other authors, illustrators, and publishers will soon follow suit. I found only one tiny drawing of a bottle, and it's being thrown to the floor. (I wonder if a nervous editor forced the illustrator to stick that in, since it's well known that bottles are detrimental to the breastfeeding relationship.) If you like A Teeny Tiny Baby by Amy Schwartz, you'll love this book.