It’s Time All Possums Went To Bed

Written by Jacqui Halpin

Illustrated by Gavin Scott

Reviewed by Margarite Igras

This is a playful and beautiful Australian bedtime time story, that oozes with the love between mother and child. With every excuse Milly comes up with, mother is there willing to play one more game, but reminding her child then it’s bedtime, just the same.

Together, they eat grapes and juicy pears just like a possum, dig the garden like a bilby, laughingly crawl on the floor looking for ants like an echidna, and bounce around the bedroom like a kangaroo. With each activity, mother reminds Milly that it’s time her animals friends went to bed. Finally, Milly yawns and curls up like a wombat, into her warm and safe burrow bed, surrounded by her toy possum, echidna, emu and of course teddy.

When you open the cover to the first page, it is like a window into the bedroom, with a mother settling her tired child. This is the end of the story. Now, with the soft warm colours, and the beautiful expressive and detailed illustrations, we watch as Milly is playfully directed up the stairs, into the bathroom, into her PJ’s and finally into her bed.

 The text is in verse, with repetitive lines such as It’s time all possums (bilbies, echidnas) went to bed.  The animals are Australian; many are nocturnal, a source for further discussion. This book presents a creative and seemingly stressless way to encourage a child to bed.

Teacher Notes

Affirm Press 2022