A Quiet Night In

Jill Murphy
It’s Mr Large’s birthday and Mrs Large has prepared him a meal, as they’re going to celebrate with a quiet night in. But as usual in the Large household, things don’t go to plan, and Mr and Mrs Large fall asleep on the sofa! So the little Larges sneak off to bed with all the lovingly prepared food…
We love Jill Murphy’s elephant books in our house. In this story Mrs Large is trying to celebrate Mr Large’s birthday with a lovely meal for two, she gets the kids ready for bed early ( a bath at 4 o’clock, they are not impressed!) and prepares the dinner. Mr Large comes home from work tired and feels he wants his supper in front of the telly. The children persuade him to just read them a story and Mr Large obliges but falls asleep over the book. Mrs Large is imposed upon to finish the tale and makes the same mistake. The children decide they’ll leave their parents to have their quiet night in and make off to bed with the dinner.
This has all the charm and humour of the other stories and it is so easy to relate to. I am sure all parents have tried to get the children off to bed quickly for some special occasion, there is much for parents to smile at here, as the children moan and grumble through the bedtime routine and make plenty of mess. It’s nice to read books that make fun out of family life and that are as easy to appreciate as adults as well as for the children. My children like the details of the mess in the pictures as the soap is on the floor and the toothpaste tube is trodden on and so on. They laugh at the parents falling asleep on the sofa and the added mess the young elephants make taking the food off to bed with them.
The pictures are wonderful, full page, clearly drawn, plenty of colour and lots of details. The ones on the end papers and on the pages with the writing add to the fun.
Verdict: The perfect bedtime story, we wouldn’t be without it.
Reviewed by Helen