The Text
The Going to Bed Book ©1982, 1995, & 2011 (On the Apple Store)
The Creators
Sandra Boynton, writer and illustrator
Loud Crow Interactive, app producer
Michael Ford, “Sea of Dreams © & ℗ 2011
The Format
App from Apple Store
The Details
(Screenshot)
From the Loud Crow Interactive website description.
Some Background
The Going to Bed Book (loudcrow.com)
The Review
Many parents will be familiar with the Sandra Boynton board books, and especially the best-selling The Going To Bed Book, which has been reproduced in many different formats over many years.
From my research, it appears that this is the second version of The Going To Bed Book in digital format. In (McGeehan et al., 2018), the authors review a version of The Going To Bed Book produced by Oceanhouse Media which includes the following observations: “[o]ption to have the story read to you, opportunity to have individual words pronounced, hotspots that provide vocabulary terms and pronunciations for items present in the illustrations, options to self-record, options to add or remove sound effects including the background music.” (p. 69)
The McGeehan article also includes an excellent rubric for assessing picture books specifically, but the general headings are worth considering as a starting to point for assessing any type of digital literature. Having been assessed as being “adequately developed” in 2018, a reassessment of The Going To Bed Book in 2022, applying the rubric criteria, yields these results.
| Main Criteria | Sub criteria | Scoring | Score | ||||
| Is the text appropriately presented in digital format? | Placement and location of the text follow the basic reading concepts (left to right/ top to bottom), captions below pictures, etc. | Appropriate sound effects and music related to the main idea of the text. | Size and shape of the text features fit the tablet’s proportions. Features include graphs, pictures, maps, graphic organisers, etc. | Digital features are easily found and accessible. | 3: 4/4 criteria are met
2: 2 or 3 out of 4 criteria are met 1: less than 2 of the criteria are met |
||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | ||
| Does the text take advantage of features the digital world allows beyond what is possible in print? | Provides oral pronunciation of words. | Provides for oral self-recording. | Provides oral pronunciation of words in multiple languages. | Provides the ability to simplify or increase the readability of the text. | 3: 4/4 criteria are met
2: 2 or 3 out of 4 criteria are met 1: less than 2 of the criteria are met |
||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Do any supplementary features align with the text? | Contains puzzles, matching memory games, painting/drawing opportunities, etc. that represent the main idea of the text. | Contains puzzles, matching memory games, painting/drawing opportunities that deepen the reader’s conceptual knowledge regarding the topic represented in the text. | Contains digital features that provide access to content specific information to deepen prior knowledge (i.e., videos, websites related to content-area topics being discussed or referred to in the text). | 3: 3/3 criteria are met
2: 2/3 criteria are met 1: less than 2 of the criteria are met |
|||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Do the features support basic concepts of [language specific] print [books] (left to right, top to bottom, turn pages left to right, one spoken word for each written word, etc.)? | Initial text appearance—utilises standard fonts, makes them of a reasonable size, and places the text on the screen in such a way that [readers] can easily attend to it. | Text highlighting—highlighted words fade out the word just read as the next word is being highlighted. | Text highlighting—highlights from left to right, top to bottom. | Text highlighting includes colours that differ from the text colour. | Text highlighting allows options for the student to increase the length of the words/phrases/sentences being highlighted (word by word, to short phrases or full sentences/phrases). | 3: 5/5 criteria are met
2: 3 or 4 out of 5 criteria are met 1: less than 3 of the criteria are met |
|
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 2 | |
| Do the digital features used support readers’ acquisition of words or comprehension? | Hotspots for word pronunciation when
reader is reading by self |
Hotspots for word study exploration: Accurate phonetic deciphering of words is available (the words are segmented into onset and rhyme or syllable; pronunciations are accurate). | Hotspots for exploration of word meanings are available; the meanings are explained, accurate, kid-friendly, and appropriate to the context in which the words are used in the text. | Hotspots for extending or enriching content information are used (i.e., sounds or actions of the characters or objects in the book, labeling of items found in pictures). All are relevant to the storyline. | 3: 4/4 criteria are met
2: 2 or 3 out of 4 criteria are met 1: less than 2 of the criteria are met |
||
| 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Total | 9 | ||||||
| Note: | 13–15 out of 15: Exceptional text that utilises digital features to increase the reading experience and has the potential to enhance the reading process and ultimately comprehension.
9–12 out of 15: Adequate text with many digital features that are likely to increase the reading experience and has the potential to enhance the reading process and ultimately comprehension. 8 or less out of 15: Inadequate digital text that fails to utilise digital features in a way that will increase the reading experience and that will have the potential to enhance the reading process and ultimately comprehension. |
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Although the original score for the text was not recorded, reassessing the title delivers a score of 9 points, which is right at the bottom of the “adequate” range. In 2018 the author’s noted that The Going To Bed Book included the following enhancements: “Option to have the story read to you, opportunity to have individual words pronounced, hotspots that provide vocabulary terms and pronunciations for items present in the illustrations, options to self-record, options to add or remove sound effects including the background music.” (p. 69)
Three significant enhancements that are no longer available are the ability for a reader to record themselves reading the book aloud, pronunciations for items present in the illustrations (only the text is spoken), and the option to remove sound effects (only the music can be muted). It appears that enhancements in picture books for emerging readers have not advanced much in four years and, in some cases, have gone backwards.
Of course, anyone buying the text these days has no way of comparing the current app with the past one and are most likely unaware that the enhancements are, in my opinion, inferior.
The rubric has a number of weaknesses in the criteria that are worth mentioning, one of which is that it focuses exclusively on assessing texts for emerging readers (which I explore further in Review 2). The shortcoming relevant to this review is that the authors assume the orientation of both text and story, that is, that text will flow “left to right/ top to bottom”. There are many texts in the physical and digital marketplace that are from language conventions that do not have this structure, most notably Asian and Middle Eastern, which can run right to left/ top to bottom both horizontally or vertically.
And despite all that, this is a delightful addition to a digital library. Perfectly suited to being read using a tablet device, the app works pretty much as a physical book would. The pages turn smoothly, the narrator, Billy J. Kramer, delivers the story in a sleepy-time tone, and the digital enhancements that are available to the reader are appropriate to the theme. Despite numerous readings of both the physical book (which my children adored) and the app, it is possible to keep finding amusing and educational extras. Not all are entirely successful, for example, the steam from the hot tap water can be written in but the clouding of the screen is not obvious enough on the first reading, however, the story and enhancements are robust enough to stand multiple recitations.
There’s a reason why Sandra Boynton is still one of the best-selling authors of books for pre-school readers. Quite simply, her writing is delightful, and perfectly pitched to the audience.
Reference List
Loud Crow Interactive. (2011, March 4). The Going to Bed Book by Sandra Boynton. App Store. https://apps.apple.com/au/app/the-going-to-bed-book-by-sandra-boynton/id421933225
McGeehan, C., Chambers, S., & Nowakowski, J. (2018). Just Because It’s Digital, Doesn’t Mean It’s Good: Evaluating Digital Picture Books. Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, 34(2), 58-70. https://doi.org/10.1080/21532974.2017.1399488
