Sleep Is For Babies! product reviews

What parent, babysitter, or other older family member has not encountered the toddler who has suddenly decided he (or she!) no longer needs to sleep on cue? Babies are different. They fall asleep naturally most of the time, and bedtime objections are usually due to wind or other physical problems. But once a baby learns that dreaded word "NO!" and is reasonably mobile as well, life changes irrevocably. That cute little baby has suddenly become a monster - and it is too late to give him back! This delightful book features just such a toddler who is determined to take control of his own bedtime routine.

Mr 20 months was enchanted by the pictures; thanks to the simple rhyme scheme, he was able to follow the story as well. He loved the cover picture with the boy hanging from a branch while the cat watched on, and spent some time examining that before the first page was turned. Once the story had begun, he was fully on board. Since this is a child who is always busy, it was nice to see the calming effect that the words had. The muted colours of the illustrations helped; because the story is set at night, the dominant colours are greens and blues. Bedtime has quickly became a pleasure with this book in high demand. The length is perfect for a small child - long enough to tell the story, but not enough to cause the child to lose interest.

The animals featured in the book are all easy to recognise. The possum is especially cute with his quizzical grin and pink nose. Unfortunately, the creatures George meets are all nocturnal and while they are ready to party for a little while, they leave one by one for other activities. Meanwhile George is getting progressively more tired although he does not want to admit it - in spite of his determination to avoid wasting time sleeping, he is finding it harder and harder to keep his eyes open.

I like the way that the father cares for George. It is not clear whether he actually knew that his son had left his bed to play outside after he had been told not to make a peep; when George comes back home, he creeps in the door and the next picture shows him asleep cuddled up in his father's arms. Perhaps his dad thought he had just come from the bedroom rather than from outside! Or maybe he followed George on his adventure, staying out of sight in case he needed to come to the rescue. Certainly he did not appear angry with the little boy; they are snuggled up together on the armchair, where the father has fallen asleep too. We would love to know!

One thing I have found since having children is that mine do not like to sleep that much, and sometimes when it is time to get ready for bed there is quite a bit of commotion involved. My children have a regular bedtime of 7.30 on a night when they do not have sports, our routine is the same each night and they will always be read a bedtime story. When I saw this book, I knew instantly that I would like to read it to my children and was thrilled to receive a copy in the mail thanks to KIWIreviews!

Upon receiving this book my two youngest children looked at the title and instantly were agreeing that a decent amount of sleep is not really needed for them, I of course disagreed because when they get tired they get quite agitated. The cover of the book has a young child hanging upside down from a tree, in what looks like the middle of the night, accompanied by a couple of animals. One thing the children and I noticed as we made our way through the book, was how beautiful the illustrations are, and that the illustrator has chosen to make the pictures look soft and has chosen the colours perfectly, throughout the image matches well with the written words.

As we started to read at one point the young boy George was referred to as Rascally George - this is what my boys chose to call him from then on until the end of the book. George decides that he is not a baby and does not need to sleep, he then decides to embark on an adventure outside, his first creature to meet was a cat that told him he should be in bed, who he convinced to play with him for a brief time. The next creature was a possum, and finally a frog, all of which had told Rascally George that it was past his bedtime, and he should go to bed for a sleep. The last animal was an owl to play a game of hide-and-seek, however by now George was feeling tired and just as he was nodding off, he got woken by owl and told to go home!

We thoroughly enjoyed this story, and it opened a conversation on the different ways my boys would stall the whole bedtime routine as they thought they didn't need sleep, several times I have found them snoozing in a spot where they shouldn't have been. I look forward to seeing more books from this author in the future.