Ten in a Bed

[George 1978]

Does anyone remember reading a children's story either at school or at their local library, which was called "Ten in a Bed" and was written (and perhaps even illustrated) by Allan "Happy Families" Ahlberg? I borrowed a "talking book" version from the local library back in the mid to late 1980s and listened to it on a radio cassette recorder back then. I assume that as the protagonist was female, it would have been seen as a girls' book? Never mind if it was, but I was impartial back then, and still am, come to that. It was a story which was within "Words and Pictures" territory if you know what I mean.

The story was about a girl called Dinah Price and it is set at bedtime each evening - when she goes to bed, she finds some "guests" in her bed. One evening, she finds the Three Bears of Goldilocks fame. Another evening, she finds Sleeping Beauty there, and another evening, she finds a nursery rhyme character in there, etc. For some reason, the name "Dinah Price" came into my head yesterday, and I know that it has associations with a children's story from the past. I don't think I ever saw it in the Book Corner of the classroom, and it was in the library when I found out about it. I google Dinah's name and got an Amazon page which mentions the book in question.

Does anyone remember reading the book at their school or library, or even listening to the talking book version at home?

[Richard1978]

Re: Ten in a Bed

I remember Victoria Wood reading it on Jackanory.

[George 1978]

Re: Ten in a Bed

I didn't know it got the Jackanory treatment, but then again my household was always a Children's ITV one - I thought it would be more of a Words and Pictures-type book to be honest. I know that some Allan Ahlberg books (mostly Happy Families ones) got the Jackanory treatment so .

Just looked on the old Genome and the late Victoria Wood her very self, did read the book on Jackanory in March 1987, and it was repeated in January 1990 - the first one to be seen in that decade. The Friday afternoon BBC Radio 4 Schools programme "Let's Join In" also had the story being told in one edition back in 1986, and was then repeated in 1988. Could it have been Victoria Wood who did the talking book version as well? - I know it was a female voice who did the library tape, probably to match the fact that the protagonist was female.

Obviously I completely forgot the title of the book was called "Ten in a Bed" until yesterday, and to be honest, the title sounds like something what Jim Bowen would say on Bullseye. OK, it was "Two in a Bed", but never mind...

[George 1978]

Re: Ten in a Bed

Of course, I am not confusing Dinah Price with Dinah Glass, the schoolgirl from The Demon Headmaster either...