I may be hurtling towards 60 but I love children’s books and am delighted to be part of the launch celebrations for The Bedtimeasnaurus by Mike Bayliss. I’m especially pleased as Mike has used a devastating health diagnosis to positive effect and I salute him for it.

The Bedtimeasnaurus is available for purchase here.

The Bedtimeasnaurus

A charming collection of gorgeously illustrated poems to encourage fun and bedtime bonding between parents and their children.

The bright pink flamingosaurus spends its day standing on one leg looking for something to eat. The round and delicious tomatosaurus sings a tune while soaking up the sun. These are just two of the imaginative and amusing dinosaurs dreamed up in The Bedtimeasnaurus, the sometimes naughty and always hilarious poetry collection for children by Mike Bayliss.

Developing the idea for over thirty years while working on other projects, Bayliss was encouraged to publish his collection after being diagnosed with Stage IV non-Hodgkin lymphoma in April 2017, using his work as a positive outlet for his energy as he worked to recover.

Complimented by charming illustrations, opportunities for kids to draw their own dinosaur creations and simple quizzes on each of the characters, The Bedtimeasnaurus not only provides an entertaining read for young children before they go to sleep but also offers a valuable chance for parents to connect and engage.

My Review of The Bedtimeasnaurus

My usual slight children’s book review issue applies to The Bedtimeasnaurus as I always prefer children’s books that don’t use upper case letters in a lower case setting, because I like to see the style we’d like children to use in their own writing modelled for them.

That small gripe aside, I absolutely loved this book. It’s creative, fabulously illustrated and full of slightly rude aspects that children will adore. There’s burping, pumping, nose picking and several mentions of the word ‘bum’ that my great nephew would find hilarious. I liked the pun in the title too.

There’s a brilliant rhyme scheme throughout so that children can see and experiment with homophones and I thought the layout for the Flamingo-asarus that mirrored the standing on one leg was genius.

Following the imaginative rhymes and invented dinosaurs are really good activity pages too. Theres a task to get children looking back over the book to find different dinosaurs, a space to invent a Bedtimeasnaurus and to create a poem. I think the vibrancy of the book would engage even the most relucatant readers and writers in these tasks.

The Bedtimeasnaurus is a super children’s book and I really recommend it.

About Mike Bayliss

Born in Walsall West Midland, UK, Bayliss is an entrepreneur that owns companies in several industries including building supply and property development. He also owns Bespoke Brewery, which opened in 2012 and has since won a number of awards for its craft beer. He lives with his wife and three children in Forest Dean, UK. This is his first book. 

You can find The Bedtimeasnaurus on Facebook.

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