The Baby Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed

Where it came from

Helen Cooper (1963 - ) is an Oxford-based children’s author and illustrator. The fantasy land in The Baby Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed was inspired by a trip to Las Vegas, its over-the-top architecture, and the lonely expanse of desert surrounding it.

Where it went next

The Baby Who Wouldn’t Go to Bed won the Kate Greenaway Medal in 1996. In 2015 Helen Cooper designed and co-curated The Story Museum’s Time for Bed exhibition, which was inspired by the book. This featured the giant bed, which can now be found in Small Worlds at the museum.

Associated stories

Helen Cooper has written and illustrated numerous other picture books, including, The Bear Under The Stairs (1993), Pumpkin Soup (1998), Tatty Ratty (2001), A Pipkin of Pepper (2004), Delicious (2006) and Dog Biscuit(2008).