Review of In the Night Garden Storybooks

Children's Picture Books Based on Preschool Kids TV Programme

Apr 28, 2009 Renee Carver

Parents can use In the Night Garden children's picture books based on the popular preschool kids tv programme to establish bedtime routines through shared storytime.

For times when parents want to share the world of the preschool children's series In the Night Garden... with kids without watching television or popping in a DVD, families can read In the Night Garden... storybooks such as What a Funny Noise!, Upsy Daisy Loves the Ninky Nonk!, and Where is Igglepiggle's Blanket?

About the Children's TV Programme In the Night Garden...

The popular preschool kids' tv programme In the Night Garden... is designed to calm the anxiety toddlers and preschoolers can feel about going to bed and to sleep at night. Through repeated phrases, nursery rhymes, funny characters, and imaginative but familiar situations, this tv show for children ages 1 to 3 takes viewers on a soothing journey through the place between being awake and being asleep while modeling for kids how to wind down and go to bed themselves.

Benefits of Reading In the Night Garden... Books

Some parents may agree that kids can benefit from seeing the process of going to bed presented in a positive light, yet may disagree with exposing children to the possibly stimulating effects of television directly before bedtime. Others may just want the convenience of having an In the Night Garden... children's picture book that can be carried and shared anywhere.

For these parents and for any families that wish to spend more time in the Night Garden with friends such as Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy, Makka Pakka, the Tombliboos, and the Pontipine family, In the Night Garden... children's picture books can be a fun and useful addition to the home library.

Review of In the Night Garden... Books

Each children's picture book based on this popular kids' tv programme retells the story of a different In the Night Garden... episode, using photos from the show as well as its familiar phrases and structure. Each focuses on a different character and begins by introducing that character with his or her special nursery rhyme. Throughout, these illustrated picture books are stuffed full of rhymes, rhythmic text, repeated sentences, and funny onomatopoetic phrases that make them great fun for parents to read aloud

As the plot of each storybook unfolds, the narrator leads children through the story with questions and observations. Parents and kids can interact with each other and with the story by answering these questions and discussing what is happening and why.

Just as each In the Night Garden... episode ends with the narrator retelling the story of the day's events while using different words and drawn illustrations, so, too, does each In the Night Garden... storybook draw to a close with a two-page illustrated spread summing up what has just happened. The final spreads also mimic the end of each tv episode by showing all of the characters going to sleep in their beds.

In the Night Garden – What a Funny Noise!

In What a Funny Noise! by Andrew Davenport [BBC Children's Books, 2008], Makka Pakka's trumpet is making a funny noise and he and Igglepiggle and Upsy Daisy must figure out why. Children will enjoy pointing out Makka Pakka's various possessions in the pictures and trying to figure out with the characters why Makka Pakka's trumpet is making such a funny noise.

In the Night Garden – Upsy Daisy Loves the Ninky Nonk!

In Upsy Daisy Loves the Ninky Nonk! by Andrew Davenport [BBC Children's Books, 2008], Upsy Daisy is on a quest to kiss everything in the garden. Children will enjoy trying to guess why the Ninky Nonk is upset and will probably be inspired by Upsy Daisy to go on kissing and hugging sprees of their own.

In the Night Garden – Where is Igglepiggle's Blanket?

Where is Igglepiggle's Blanket? by Andrew Davenport [BBC Children's Books, 2008] provides readers with all the visual and textual clues they will need to solve the mystery of what has happened to Igglepiggle's blanket. In this case, even grownups will be amused by the repeated trubliphone calls from the teeny tiny Pontipines and Igglepiggle's inability to understand what they are trying to tell him or even identify who keeps phoning him.

Parents interested in using In the Night Garden... products to establish bedtime routines for their kids can also read a review of the show and find out more about the Welcome to the Garden DVD containing four In the Night Garden... episodes.

The copyright of the article Review of In the Night Garden Storybooks in Children’s Books is owned by Renee Carver. Permission to republish Review of In the Night Garden Storybooks in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.