Peace at Last

This Big Book edition of Jill Murphy's classic picture book is ideal for sharing with groups of children.

It's late at night and Mr Bear is desperately trying to sleep--but Mrs Bear snores so he tries Baby Bear's room, but Baby Bear is pretending to be an aeroplane so there's no peace there. Room by room Mr Bear goes through the house trying to find somewhere to sleep.

Bright colourful pictures accompany the simple, repetitive text of this delightful storybook. Children will delight in all the wonderful sound effects and Mr Bear's reaction--"TICK-TOCK...went the living room clock...TICK-TOCK, TICK-TOCK. CUCKOO! CUCKOO! "Oh NO!" said Mr Bear, "I can't stand THIS." So he went off to sleep in the kitchen." And parents will have plenty of empathy for poor Mr Bear's predicament. (Ages 3 and over)

A Big Book edition of this story is also available.

View other editions of Peace at Last.
View books by Jill Murphy.

great - even for tiny babies! - Rated
Reviewers have mentioned how much their toddlers love this story, but I would recommend it for babies too. My six month old daughter loves to listen to this before she goes to sleep - there are lots of sounds mentioned in the text that she can recognise from the home, although I do need to have an actor's enthusiasm for the sound effects! But, it is good to see an alternative to button pressing and battery operated sounds for parents who wish to entertain their babies with a book.

Another super book, with brilliant artwork - Rated
from Jill Murphy!

Poor Mr Bear is having trouble getting to sleep, which may strike a chord with some!

From the back cover:-

'The hour was late and Mr Bear was tired.
But he could not sleep - however he tried and whatever he tried.
Snore, Snore went Mrs Bear.
Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock went the clock.
Would he never get to sleep?

For this new edition of her picture book classic,
Jill Murphy has carefully restored all the artwork.'

Beautifully written and illustrated with Jill Murphy's characteristic warmth and subtle humour!
The second book, featuring Mrs Bear and Baby Bear, is 'Whatever Next!', which has also become a picture book classic.'

24 shiny high quality pages in the popular 2-page spread format.
Clear text is on the left hand page with the main pictures on the right hand page, so suitably predictable for the younger reader who is eager to turn the page!
Wonderfully illustrated throughout, from the cover illustration with Mrs Bear in her hairnet, this book is further enhanced by meaningful facial expressions! The black and white drawings further add to this delightful book!

Example of text:-

'The hour was late.

Mr Bear was tried
Mrs Bear was tired
and
Baby Bear was tired....
...so they all went to bed.

Mrs Bear fell asleep.
Mr Bear didn't.
Mrs Bear began to snore.
"SNORE," went Mrs Bear.
"SNORE, SNORE, SNORE."
"Oh NO!" said Mr Bear,
"I can't stand THIS."
So he got up and went to
sleep in Baby Bear's room......'

But it is too noisy in there, too......so poor Mr Bear puts on his dressing gown, takes his pillow and goes here and there, on what proves to be rather a long mission to find somewhere peaceful to sleep......

A favourite with my 18-month-old - Rated
I've got an old board-book version of this, and it's become a major favourite of my son's (sharing equal ranking with 'Peepo' and 'The World's Best Dive Sites'!). The story is great - especially the ending, where a cup of tea in bed makes all well again! - and when reading it to my son we have great fun doing all the noises together (you should hear his snore!). I also enjoy the modern elements that make it relevant to kids today: baby bear lying in bed making aeroplane noises, for example, and the way that Mr Bear ends up trying to sleep in the car; these surprised me given the tendency of many kids' book to shun the modern. A lovely book.

Fantastic Story Book - Rated
I've snuck onto my Dad's amazon to write this! Quite un-scientifically this book is wonderful. I read it when I was 4 or 5 when first starting school (I am now 21) and no amount of rythm or exclamation was what captivated me about this book. The pictures were so detailed and colourful and the story so funny to me I was hooked instantly. I bought it for myself 2 years ago as a reminder of my youth -
as it was the one book that I could really remember so clearly and with such fondness! Still get that wonderful warmth every time I peruse it!

Not as good as I expected - Rated
The book is just about Ok, It has repetition to help the child learn to read, the story flows and involves everyday items that the young child will be familiar with, so whats my problem with it, why not 5 stars?
The ending. It just ends all of a sudden, the bringing in of a cup of tea just makes it feel like an emergancy ending for 3rd year homework that has been written at the breakfast time before you had to leave to catch the bus to school.
Apart from that the book is ok and has a nice flow, simple language and lovely pictures for the young child to lose themselves in.