Jill Murphy draws and includes very detailed colourful illustrations to coincide with each page of writing which could be drawn from in a classroom setting. In addition to this repetition of Mr Bear’s speech “Oh No, I can’t stand this” occurs throughout the book. In ‘Peace at Last’ Jill Murphy uses a variety of language techniques including speech marks simple sentences compound sentences phonetic words and capital letters for sound words.

How the book is used would differ depending on the age and ability of the children. I find this book extremely fun and interesting to explore within the classroom with a variety of different age groups, most suitably EYFS and KS1. I wonder if daddy bear ever gets to go to sleep. Once daddy bear finally finds somewhere to sleep it is morning and everybody else wakes up. Throughout his journey we encounter a variety of different noises that disrupt daddy bear’s sleep. One particular evening daddy bear is struggling to fall asleep and so we follow his journey through the house trying to find somewhere comfortable and quiet to sleep. The plot focuses on a family of bears Mr Bear, Mrs Bear and Baby Bear. ‘Peace at Last’ by Jill Murphy is a fantastic engaging picture book for children. This book has been a household favourite for many years, and it certainly has not lost its vibrancy and charm to entertain. It is illustrated with large, one-page drawings and therefore is great to hold up when it is being read. It has simple and compound sentence structures, and repetitive vocabulary, which would give an early reader confidence. It would provoke many conversations between pupils, as every child would want to talk about their own bed time habits. It has a simple plot which children can easily relate to… a frustrating night of struggling to fall asleep, and the adventure which can unfold. = When read out loud, this book will appeal to 3-4yr olds, but is a good read for children themselves in EYFS or KS1 classes. Eventually, Daddy Bear finds ‘peace at last in sleep’ when he finds Mummy Bear sleeping quietly many hours later. The book works well when it is read out loud, as the children can join in with the noises from the ‘drip drip’ of the tap, to the ‘twit twoo’ of the owl. As a result Daddy Bear fills the subsequent pages trying to find a quiet place to sleep, and more often than not, failing to do so.

Mummy Bear falls straight to sleep… accompanied by a rather large snore.

Every page is full of noises for readers and children to join in together, a great way to end the day! We enter the book at bedtime in the Bear household, with Daddy Bear, Mummy Bear and Baby Bear all going up the stairs to bed. = P eace at Last is a brilliant book for interactive story times in EYFS or KS1 classrooms.

Peace at last mr bear