As a mum, I love all three of my kids unconditionally and wholeheartedly and I couldn't imagine life without them. However, there are times when they drive me to distraction and I breathe a huge sigh of relief when it's time to send them off to bed so that I can get some well-earned mummy-time ! Some days it works like clockwork and they're all having happy dreams within a matter of minutes. Other times, it's the final battle of the day and they will use all the ruses kids have ever come up with to get an extra five minutes of not going to sleep. Aaaggghhh !
Adam Mansbach has obviously been there many a time because his hilarious pastiche of a kids' bedtime story sums up the sentiments precisely. This is a book that will divide the masses. While some parents will laugh out loud at its irreverent humour, I'm sure others will be deeply offended at the words addressed to the kids in the book. Cannongate, who have acquired the rights, explain : "Profane, affectionate and refreshingly honest, this book perfectly captures the familiar and unspoken tribulations of putting your child down for the night. In the process, it opens up a conversation about parenting, charming and enraging as it can be, and chimes a note of solidarity with tired parents everywhere."
The book will be published just in time for Father's Day next month, but it is already climbing steadily through the Amazon UK charts, hitting the Amazon.co.uk Top 50 and Humour Top 10 within just a few days. Due to a spontaneous internet buzz that has resulted in the US publisher bringing publication forward, as well as the resulting coverage from the Today Show to the New York Times, the book found its way to the Number 1 spot on Amazon.com last week. Film rights were this week sold to Fox 2000 !
Just a word of warning - it looks exactly like a typical illustrated kids' bedtime storybook so keep it well out of the little hands. This is definitely one to keep for the adults, and even then, only those with a naughty sense of humour and a broad mind !
Canongate will publish a £9.99 hardback on 16 June 2011.
for more information : http://gotheftosleep.com/
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Sounds like a book I'd enjoy, many thanks
ReplyDeleteThis book seems to be something fresh and new, it’s a short list of books that seem like they’re for kids, but really they’re for parents. Just over that line are books that really are for kids, but they’re made in a way that adults (yes, non-parent adults) can like them too. Anyway, I’m looking forward to checking this book out.
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