Bedtime Story

Shortlisted for the 2023 NSW Premier's Literary Award for Non-Fiction
Longlisted for the 2023 Margaret and Colin Roderick Literary Award

From the best-selling author of The Tall Man and The Arsonist, a personal tale about death, life and the enchantment of stories. With illustrations by Anna Walker.

Let me tell you a story…

When Chloe Hooper’s partner is diagnosed with a rare and aggressive illness, she has to find a way to tell their two young sons. By instinct, she turns to the bookshelf. Can the news be broken as a bedtime tale? Is there a perfect book to prepare children for loss?

Hooper embarks on a quest to find what practical lessons children’s literature with its innocent orphans and evil adults, magic, monsters and anthropomorphic animals can teach about grief and resilience in real life. From the Brothers Grimm to Frances Hodgson Burnett and Tolkien and Dahl—all of whom suffered childhood bereavements she follows the breadcrumbs of the world’s favourite authors, searching for the deep wisdom in their books and lives.

Both memoir and manual, Bedtime Story is stunningly illustrated by the New York Times award-winning Anna Walker. In an age of worldwide uncertainty, here is a profound and moving exploration of the dark and light of storytelling.

About the Author

Chloe Hooper's most recent book is the bestselling The Arsonist: A Mind on Fire. The Tall Man: Death and Life on Palm Island won the Victorian, New South Wales, West Australian and Queensland Premiers’ Literary Awards, as well as the John Button Prize for Political Writing, and a Ned Kelly Award for crime writing. She is also the author of two acclaimed novels, A Child’s Book of True Crime and The Engagement. She lives in Melbourne with her partner and her two sons.

About the Illustrator

Anna Walker, author and illustrator of the I Love series, lives in Melbourne, Victoria. She completed a degree in Graphic Design in 1994 before becoming a freelance illustrator. Anna's illustrations have enjoyed international success in a broad range of products, from greeting cards to Christmas decorations. Anna's work has gained recognition in regular exhibitions and a Melbourne Art Directors Club award for best illustration.