The bedtime bunny hunt by Beatrix Potter

Using well known characters in books by Beatrix Potter this series of lift-the-flap books will quickly find a place at home or in a library or classroom, with information on the cover telling the reader that there are lots of flaps to look under. And there are.

Peter Rabbit has been called inside by his mother and he and his siblings, Flopsy, Mopsy and Cotton-tail, get ready for bed. They have been out all day playing with their friend Benjamin and their toys, and must say farewell to their friend and gather up their toys to put them away. A problem occurs when they cannot find the snuggly toy bunnies, their companions when going to sleep, so Peter must search for them before they goes to bed.  Lifting the flap to find the toy bunnies will have readers guessing where they might be. Their eyes will roam over the detailed pages of illustrations: of the woods where they play, the wonderfully warm kitchen, the bathroom, the lounge with the bookcase, and lastly the bedroom. Each room redolent of the smaller hand sized stories by Beatrix Potter with which many children will be familiar.

All the evening routines are included, supper is a cake and hot drink, then a bath, brushing the teeth clean, sitting by the fire with Mum, and settling down for bedtime. But Peter is dismayed, he cannot sleep without his toy bunny. While cleaning his teeth he remembers a game he and his sisters played during the day and rushes to the bookcase which was then a mountain to find the bunnies. The girls find theirs but Peter’s is still missing.

Eventually the toy is found and all is well for the children to go to bed and sleep. This is a lovely lift the flap story to read before bedtime, a winding down book that outlines the steps to going to bed for the night.

And children will have lots of fun with lifting the flaps that show up on every second double page, watching out for their favourite characters and following the story of Peter Rabbit.

Themes: Rabbits, Beatrix Potter, Loss, Sleep, Bedtime, Humour, Lift the flap tale.

Fran Knight