I always knew Hallmark made lovely greetings cards but until a few weeks ago, I didn't know they also produced such lovely children's books. We were lucky enough to receive their gorgeous Christmas books and have now discovered the adorable bedtime book Night Night, Sweet Dreams
Before even turning to the first page, I could tell we would love this book just by looking at the front cover. Anything with cute characters and lashings of glitter is always bound to go down well ! And the adorable Forever Friends bears will be a hit with readers of all ages - I'm sure many mums will love it just as much as their kids !
The story is very cute, telling the tale of Little Bear who doesn't want to go to sleep, and his Mum who explains why sleep is so important, not to mention fun. The beautiful illustrations and simple magical tale will really appeal to young children.
But the book also delivers an important message, to kids and also to parents, hopefully going some way towards banishing the bedtime blues. Hallmark Cards questioned over 1,000 British mums and dads with pre-school children to gain insight into kiddies' sleeping habits for the development of the book.
Commenting on the research, renowned children’s sleep expert and Channel 4 psychologist Chireal Shallow said: “81% of parents feel that a bedtime routine is important, and as they become more aware of the benefits of sleep to our children’s health, they realise that developing a good sleep routine can have a significant effect on the quality and amount of sleep achieved.
So what are the key ingredients for the perfect bedtime routine? Of 1,000 mums and dads with under fives surveyed throughout the UK, the following came out as the most effective ways to get their child to sleep, forming part of the ideal bedtime routine. The top five are as follows:
A bedtime story- 56%
A bath before bed- 34%
A comforter/teddy bear- 31%
Going to the toilet before bed- 28%
A dark room- 25%
Hallmark explain, "Eight out of ten parents questioned believe that a regular bedtime routine is extremely important, and incorporating a bedtime book helps your child have a good night’s sleep. Yet despite such a simple method proving so popular, almost 10% of those parents questioned have never even read their child a bedtime story" ! Chireal said: “A routine would not be right without a bedtime storybook as it gives many parents the chance to spend some quality time with their children and puts both you, and your child in a good mood before bed. Such simple measures can make a massive difference !”
I would highly recommend Night Night, Sweet Dreams as the perfect bedtime story. The pastel colours and gentle low-action storyline are great for helping kids to wind down before bed and the detailed illustrations and story that young children can identify with will automatically lead on to some lovely parent-child discussions to finish off the day. It's impossible to read the story and look at the pictures without smiling and kids will pick up on the fact that you are actually enjoying reading to them and will absolutely love sharing some quality time with you.
If you still need some extra help, don't miss out on the live Q&A session with Chireal Shallow which will be kicking off on twitter later on this morning - more details here.
star rating : 5/5
RRP : £4.99
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OOOOh i love forever friends, its a shame i only have boys
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment on my Bedtime battles post :) I will definitely be buying this book. Great review, thank you!
ReplyDeleteHope it helps ! x
ReplyDeleteLooks like a sweet book!
ReplyDeleteIt's lovely, don't miss the video either ! :-)
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