Customer Reviews

No Jumping on the Bed!

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

What child hasn't jumped on a bed? This delightful and fanciful story of a boy who crashes thru his bed and down successive floors in his apartment building captures the attention of even the most energetic child. Lilting language is sure to capture the attention of adults as well, while adding to your child's language development. Written for the author/illustrator's son, this one is a favorite in my classrooms.

With Green Wilma being such a hit with my grandaughter, I sent for this book and a few others by the same author. Well, this one is the favorite (tied with Green Wilma)and I have to agree..I love this book too! The story is so simple: a boy falling through the floor, picking up people along the way. I dare you NOT to laugh at the funny pictures and the sound-a-like names, which get funnier as they get closer to the end! I had to read this book 3 times last visit and we laughed as hard the 3rd time as the first!

I cringed the first time I heard "Five Little Monkey's Jumping on the Bed"- what mom doesn't? Tedd Arnold explores a different scary aspect of bedjumping, probably one that many children who live in old houses or buildings have thought about- What If The Floor Breaks?! In addition, he caters to the voyeur in children. Don't most children wonder what their neighbors do and what their homes are like? Mine do. The illustrations are charmingly blocky- like Lego people. The animals are cuddly. Everyone rhymes. The theme is very funny to little people- Imagine visiting all your neighbors through the floor! Walter is viewed in our household much as an actor is- my children have noticed that he is also Ollie in "Ollie Forgot". We like that continuity of players in our books. I know that children have to learn that dreams aren't reality; that "what happens during the night" is not really something that happens. Interestingly, Tedd Arnold messes with young minds just a little by making them wonder what is reality and what is a dream.

Author: Tedd Arnold

When Walter starts jumping on the bed his Dad tells him, "Don't jump on the bed or you might fall through the floor." I don't think the little boy wants to stop jumping on the bed. The author seems to understand what kids can go through and I hope there are other people who want to read this book to their kids. This is a very creative book and I think that someone who can write a book and somehow know almost everything a kid will do, must really understand kids. Tedd Arnold is a very creative person. I would read this book to my little brothers, sisters and cousins because it's a very good book and it's appropriate for children eight and younger.

Bed jumping. Is there a better pastime for youngsters? Is there a more frustrating pastime for parents? Have you ever heard (or SAID!) something like, "if you don't stop that, you and your bed are going to go through the floor!!" Well, here's what would happen if you ever DID...

Walter is in his bright yellow P.J.'s getting ready for bed. This means JUMPING on the bed, of course, much to his father's chagrin. Suddenly, after a particularly high hump, his whole BED goes through the floor into Miss Hattie's kitchen below (she's eating spaghetti and meatballs, Walter's favorite). The force of this crash causes HER floor to cave in, and they both tumble down, spaghetti, bed and all, into Mr. Matty's TV room. Guess what happens to HIS floor?? Yup!!

Walter plummets through an aquarium, a huge box of collectable stamps, a house built of toy blocks and a painter's studio before finding his way to the surprise ending in the basement of the apartment.

All the neighbors have wonderful rhyming names like Miss Hattie, Aunt Batty, Mr. Hanratty and Fatty Cat, making this book a wonderful choice to teach phonics and language (rhyming, vowel/consonant, long vowel sounds, etc). The illustrations are bright, detailed and engaging making it a "read it again!" selection for everyone. The topic is sure to be one that every child has thought about ("what if my bed DID go through the floor...?") and will provide hours of fun reading. Definitely add this one to your collection!!

Lovely pictures, and great story which gently gets your toddler/preschooler to think about why they shouldn't be jumping on the bed! Great fun.

This is a basic cumulative tale. Walter finally jumps so high he falls through the floor, and as he goes on more and more residents of his apartment building fall with him, down and down in a rhyming fashion.

Eventually Walter wakes up - just in time for his upstairs neighbor to fall on top of him.

The absurdly calm quips everybody makes as the whole building falls in on top of them are worth reading all by themselves.

I will note that this is a very long, pretty involved book. It might not be suited for very young children, under the age of four or so.

While the concept was interesting and the problem real (Our two boys bounce every chance they get!), the story quickly devolves into jumbled rhymes and no clear storyline. The book doesn't rise to Dr. Suess quality. The rhymes are leaden ("Hattie, Battie, Fattie...") and fall faster than the boy tumbles though his apartment floors.

On a positive note, it was nice to see a kids book that uses an apartment building as its main setting. The classics are usually set in a house or, more specifically, a farm house. We live in the suburbs, so it was great to illustrate how children live in apartments. BTW: Santa's Book of Names illustrates how Santa delivers to children living in apartments.

In summary, Tedd Arnold's story doesn't stand up to the Dr. Suess classics, which offer better storylines and rhymes. Rating: Three stars.

No Jumping On the Bed is one of those timeless books that children love to hear over and over again. Our high school students usually pick it as a favorite to read to the elementary children during Love of Reading Week each year.

My three-year-old son received this as a birthday gift and we've read it regularly ever since. Terrific, energized text and wonderfully imaginative illustrations make for a bedtime tale that literally leaps off the page. Liked it so much we're ordering it as a Christmas present.