The Big Bed

The Big Bed is a humorous story featuring a crowded family bed where everyone-kids and pets alike-wants a spot. Dad, however, just wants to sleep! With direct speech, everyday language, contractions, and expressive illustrations, the text supports students as they explore voice and emotion in narrative writing. The use of familiar scenarios, such as sharing a bed or dealing with pets, allows children to relate easily to the plot and characters. The book provides multiple opportunities for predicting outcomes, identifying root words, and reading contractions in context. Students will enjoy the lively tone and playful dialogue, making it a great resource for learning how punctuation, dialogue and action work together in storytelling.

Educational Benefits:

• Reinforces the use of contractions in context
• Develops narrative comprehension through plot and character analysis
• Encourages expressive reading and understanding of punctuation
• Builds understanding of everyday vocabulary and sentence structure

Classroom Ideas:

• Practise reading aloud with expression and acting out the scenes
• Identify and sort contractions found in the story
• Write a new ending where Dad finally gets his rest
• Create speech bubbles for each character to practise direct speech

Safety & Information:

• Ages: 5-7
• Measurements: 150 x 200 mm
• Paperback, fiction
• Great for literacy groups focusing on expressive reading