Mama, I Can't Sleep

by Brigitte Raab
Illustrations by Manuela Olten

My six-year-old over the past few months has had difficulty getting to sleep. I flipped through this book at the library and thought she would find it amusing- yep. It reminds her that she's not the only one having issues falling asleep- and makes her laugh!

The kid in the story says to her mom over and over: I can't sleep. Mom tells her to snuggle with her stuffed leopard and close her eyes, adding: "all creatures sleep. Even the real leopards in Africa-" and shares some fact about how leopards sleep. Next page, the kid complains she can't sleep- she tried to sleep like a leopard but it didn't work- so mom tucks her in again and tells her how storks sleep on one leg- you get the picture. Each time the kid tries sleeping like an animal: eyes open like a fish, surrounded by buddies like a duck, turning in circles like a dog. She finds out of course that animal sleep habits are not for kids, snuggled in a bed is best of all.

This book isn't about finding some strategy for bedtime (and we're mostly over needing that). You see through the pictures that the mother is going through her own bedtime routine, and on the last page when the kid finally says "I'm sleeping now!" mom is already snoozing next to her. It never shows the child actually falling alseep- which I found a tad annoying. But it's good for giggles.

Borrowed from the public library.

Rating: 3/5                32 pages, 2012