Where's my blanky? (Sleepy Me - Marni McGee)

Member Name: belglen

Product:	Sleepy Me - Marni McGee
Date:	03/07/09 (48 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to read, sweet story

Disadvantages: None

My two oldest children are members of the local library. My daughter who is 8 is able to read independently but my son who is 5 is only just learning to read so most of his reading is done with me or my husband. My daughter goes to swimming lessons on a Saturday morning and we usually call to the library after the swimming, if my son is not with us then my daughter chooses a suitable book for him. On our last visit to the library my son was not with us so my daughter chose his book, she chose "Sleepy Me" by Marni McGee, illustrated by Sam Williams.

This is a very sweet read together book and basically is an evening book to help your child unwind and get in the mood for sleep. The story is very simple and takes us through various little scenes around the home in the evening, the theme is based around getting the baby to sleep. As you can imagine this is a very "quiet" story, everything is very calm, there is no running around in the story or shouting or singing, the colours in the illustrations are very subdued and almost blurred, like the effect you get when looking at things through sleepy eyes.

The story opens with a view from the garden to the house and there is a "Sleepy cat" curled up on a bench, and when you look back from the cat to the house you can just see the back of an adult with a little child draped over their shoulder. There is very little text in the story, every sentence or phrase begins with the word "sleepy", there are a number of sleepy things ranging from the cat to a chair, to a star, to mum, to a sleepy bear and then finally a sleepy baby.

This is a lovely book to share with a child, just after a bath perhaps curled up in a chair or snuggling down in bed. My son at 5 is not able to read it on his own but I think the purpose of the book is to share the story and enjoy it together. The story shows a very idealised bedtime scene and one that is very pleasant, the slight rhyming to the words helps the child almost slow their breathing and start to unwind. My son has enjoyed the story and we have read it for quite a few nights now and each night he is enchanted by a different scene in the story.

A very pleasant, easy to read story to be enjoyed with young children, one I would recommend.

Summary: A lovely bedtime story to share with a child.