Dr. Seuss' Sleep Book

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Summary: The second book most likely to put me to sleep
Review: ...the first one is War and Peace. Talk about long and booooring!

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Summary: Some kind of weird voodoo magic
Review: Dr Seuss' Sleep Book is amazing. I picked up a copy when my oldest child was about two years old, and it has always held her attention until she drifted off to sleep. My daughter is six now and, along with her two younger siblings, still loves this book.

Our favorite character is Snorter McPhail. The kids say he reminds them of their father... while I agree that he does bear a resemblance to my husband, I think I just like the concept of Snorter wearing a large bucket on his head, conducting a snoring orchestra - the "snore-a-snort band" - in a cave way out of town, all while he is asleep.

This book has some kind of weird voodoo magic that really does put kids (and sometimes grownups) to sleep. In the years that I've been reading the story to my children, they have almost never made it through the entire book before drifting off, and the few times they have made it through awake, they're extremely drowsy by the end. Dr. Seuss' Sleep Book has been read so often that the binding is starting to come loose, but we'll just keep reading it until it falls apart, then buy another copy.

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Summary: One of the greatest childrens books ever...
Review: Everyone has heard of The Cat in the Hat, but I can't believe that so few people have been lucky enough to experience Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book. I can't think of another bedtime story that doesn't pale in comparison to this one.. As a child, I read it so much that at one point actually had it memorized... To this day I can still recite most of it! "The news just came in from the County of Keck.." and by the time I get to the last few lines... I'm always ready to sleep! Definately belongs in the top ten books of all time.

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Summary: Can it get any better?
Review: I have not read all the Seuss books yet, but this book is a huge classic for me.
Each page is another world to enter into and dream about.
There is almost no plot, just one crazy, engrossing scene after another.
Not a great read-to book because your kid misses the visuals - but an amazing read-with book.

I have just read the copy from my youth, 30+ yrs ago, alongside my 3 and 5 yr old girls (in bed, as the book tells us to do) and they did not fidget once.

'Sleep' reminds me of the excellent 'Starbright' books that put images and scenes into the child's imagination. Those books are word only, this is basically pictures.

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Summary: Skip the sleep clinic -- make an appointment with Dr. Seuss!
Review: I should write this review under an alias so I can keep getting credit for helping grownups who can't get to sleep ... all my other clever professional tactics aside, this book is the clincher. I get sleepy just taking it off the shelf, and I have to turn my head away as folks leaf through the pages. If you're lucky enough to have a youngster as your excuse for buying this book, bravo -- and if not, well, put it by your bedside anyway. You won't be awake long enough to regret it. Sweet dreams ....

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Summary: It actually works!
Review: My 2.5 year old son doesn't usually sleep for books--in fact; before reading this book, he didn't sleep for any books at all. This one does the trick about 50% of the time, now, and he's very sleepy at the end of the book, if he isn't asleep. If your young child doesn't usually sleep for books, you should definitely try this one out.

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Summary: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz................
Review: Shake myself awake again to tell my sleepy view... of Dr. Seuss's "Sleep Book," a childhood favorite that has survived all the insomniac years of growing up and turning a bit more vintage. So many of my childhood books have vanished somewhere along that winding time-route... somewhere on those many travels and address changes, moved from one previous life to another former life to another life begun today. Lost, but for this one. And when a family pet took a toothy chomp along the binding, no matter, I had to buy another. Children's book? Ah, for the child in all of us! For we all sleep, and we all dream. The first stretchy yawn is as delicious as the final one, and the overall feel of this Seussian masterpiece is cozy, and warm, and comforting. I remember well my fascination with the unique characters as a child, with all their quirky sleep routines. I found them fully as endearing when reading the book, over and over again, to my own children. With anticipation of grandchildren looming somewhere within the next decade... I look forward to sharing these cozy yawns with yet another generation. The book is a timeless classic.

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Summary: One of Dr. Seuss' Best
Review: This book is hilarious and fun to read. Each page is more surprising and unexpected than the next. (The goose who dreams about goose juice, and the moose who dreams about moose juice; they have to be careful to avoid mixing up their dreams -- How in the world did Dr. Seuss come up with this?)

This is a great bedtime book, but there are two problems. First, I have trouble not laughing. (OK, I admit it, I laugh on every page while reading to my 3-1/2 year old. He starts laughing and the whole bedtime story thing degenerates.) Second, this is a long book. We don't finish it before my son gets sleepy. As of yet, we haven't made it to the end.

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Summary: Yawn . . . My Eyes Are Getting Heavy . . . Yawn . . . Sleep
Review: This book is the next best thing to a ride in the car to help your youngster get to sleep. Dr. Seuss's Sleep Book will also provide lots of relaxing evening reads . . . that will leave you in a good mood for a restful night, as well.

Many people report having trouble getting to sleep throughout their entire lives. Sleep experts advise creating new behaviors that enourage drowsiness. Avoid caffeine. Put the lights on low. Have some quiet music. Avoid activities in bed other than sleeping (I've always wondered about that one, too, for the parents). Keep a regular schedule. Have some hot milk.

So Dr. Seuss right away changes the rules. "This Book is to be Read in Bed."

You will immediately meet a "very small bug . . . Van Vleck

is yawning so wide

you can look down his neck."

Now a yawn is catching. In fact, I'm yawning as I type this section.

Before I knew about this book, one of my favorite methods of helping our youngsters settle down was to go into their room to read a story while yawning uncontrollably. They could seldom resist yawning themselves for longer than two minutes. Pretty soon the eye lids were heavy. Dr. Seuss gives you some additional hypnotic suggestions to help with this process, so you'll soon be a sleep-inducing magician.

"The yawn of that one little bug is still spreading!"

"And people are gradually starting to say,

'I feel rather drowsy. I've had quite a day.'"

"Creatures are starting to think about rest.

Two Biffer-Baum Birds are now building their nest."

"Sleepy thoughts are spreading throughout the whole land."

What follows are lots of references to brushing your teeth before bedtime, turning the lights out, more yawns, and getting into bed.

"The number of sleepers is steadily growing."

These include stilt-walkers, the Hinkle-Horn Honking Club, the collapsible Frink, some who are talking in their sleep, Joe and Mo Redd-Zoff are sleep walking, the Hoop-Soup-Snoop Group, the Curious Crandalls, Chippendale Mupp bites his tail, Mr. and Mrs. J. Carmichael Krox, Zwiebach Motel guests, snorers who make music, Jedd, two Offts, a dreaming moose and goose, the Bumble-Tub Club sleeping afloat, and the salesmen in the Vale of Va-Vode sleeping all over the road (and everywhere else).

Pretty soon,

"Ninety-nine zillion,

Nine trillion and two

Creatures are sleeping!

So . . . How about you?"

"Good night."

Obviously, the key to this book is to create an ever more . . . drowsy mood. Unlike the usual Dr. Seuss story, you want to s - l - o - w d - o - w - n a - s y - o - u g - o .

The book is rather long, so the cadence has a chance to create a rhythmic sense of relaxation. Reading the book can become one of those regular habits that is sleep inducing in this way.

The only book that compares with this one for relaxing your child into sleep is Good Night Moon, which is surely a staple in your repertoire by now. Older children do tire of that (which is great for wee ones), so they can graduate later to this book. Naturally, when your child starts to read this book to you, you should encourage putting yawns and snores in at the right places . . . while avoiding lethargy disturbing giggles and laughter.

Now I hope you feel like you're as snug as a bug in a rug, and the pillow is ever so soft. Take a large yawn, try two, and then go on to three. Pass along these soporofic hints, and you'll enjoy the land of nod, too.

As you can see, this book is great for creating a mood. You can enhance any experience by establishing the proper mood. What mood will make your child most want to learn when you are together?

Make your progress irresistible!

Rating:
Summary: A wonderland for the mind of a child
Review: This delightful book is a must for all young children and parents.
Filled with wonderful characters and wonderful stories, starting with the news that `Has just come in from the County of Keck
That a very small bug by the name of Van Vleck
Is yawning so wide you can look down his neck'

It deals with a castle half way between Reno and Rome, Two very nice Foona Galoona Baboona, and the folly of a goose and moose drinking each other's juice. It will take the little ones minds off to faraway dreamy and tranquil destinations before easing them off to sleep. It was certainly one of my childhood favourites, and one of the first books I remember.