Hachette ISBN 9781444926446 £12.99
Will You Help Me Fall Asleep? describes itself as a calming bedtime story. There is a little reference towards the end of taking deep breaths and thinking about your happy place but beyond this I don’t see it as any more calming than any other bedtime story. It tells the story of Monty the frog who, excited by participating in his annual boat races the following day, is unable to nod off to sleep. He talks directly to the reader asking for their help in getting off to sleep. The 30+ exclamation marks, the bright cartoony illustrations and the large dramatic sound effects on the pages such as BAAAAA! And AAAAAHHH! make it anything but calming in my opinion. But as a story for 3-7 year olds about being excited about things it could lead to a discussion about success and failure, joining in having fun, coping with disappointment and strategies for sleeping etc. The illustrations are bright and colourful. I recommend for frog lovers from 3-7years.
Jane Macleod