From the Publisher
★"A book that is reassuring while speaking to and visually manifesting how difficult it can be to fall asleep when our minds are overwhelmed; this is a perfectly relatable book for young readers and adults alike." —School Library Journal (starred review)
"Told through the eyes of a child protagonist whose mind is racing at bedtime, the book will help readers of all ages to both recognize and manage anxiety." —People Magazine
"What frightens one person might seem silly but understandable to another... this tale will spark daytime discussions about how difficult it can be to quiet unsettling thoughts." —Kirkus Reviews
School Library Journal
★ 07/19/2024
K-Gr 2—On a sparkly night, a child snuggles a stuffy and worries over falling asleep. While the moon-bathed surroundings emanate peaceful slumber, inside the child's mind is a totally different landscape. A world full of scariness and noise bubbles out in bright greens, pinks, and yellows that take the form of robot sharks and the dentist! Greenfield humorously softens bedtime fears: a cluster of tarantulas end up overflowing from a toilet bowl while a worry about a best friend leaving envisions them sailing away on a pirate ship made of French toast. Lucid writing paired with Serafino's affecting illustrations succinctly present how a mind full of both scary and comforting thoughts can make it difficult to surrender to the rest we need. The story arc triumphantly takes readers from trying to imagine good night thoughts to being able to say "Good night" to our thoughts. VERDICT A book that is reassuring while speaking to and visually manifesting how difficult it can be to fall asleep when our minds are overwhelmed; this is a perfectly relatable book for young readers and adults alike.—Sarah Pousty
Kirkus Reviews
2024-05-31
Actor and author Greenfield’s latest picture book follows a child kept awake by anxieties.
The pajama-clad narrator huddles in bed among the blue shadows of a bedroom at night. “Every time I close my eyes, I’m afraid of all the scary stuff I see.” Bright, candy-hued clouds of cartoon images surround the child, lively, disruptive depictions of the what-ifs and exaggerated disasters that crowd out sleep: war (we see the world pop “into a piece of popcorn”), kidnapping (pirates carry away the child’s teddy bear), falling “up” into the sun, tarantulas in the toilet, and a menacing-looking dentist. These outsize insomnia inducers may help readers put their own unvoiced concerns into perspective; after all, what frightens one person might seem silly but understandable to another. Our narrator tries to replace the unsettling thoughts with happy ones—hugging a baby panda, being serenaded by a choir of doughnuts, and “all the people who love me holding hands and wearing every piece of clothing that they own.” But sleep is still elusive. Finally, remembering that there’s a difference between reality and an overactive imagination, the child relaxes a bit: “Right now, everything is okay. And so am I.” Reassuring, though not exactly sedate, this tale will spark daytime discussions about how difficult it can be to quiet unsettling thoughts. The child has dark hair and blue-tinged skin, reflecting the darkness of the bedroom.
Relatable guidance for nocturnal worriers.(Picture book. 4-7)
