Review sponsored* by Full Media Ltd
The Children’s Book Review | August 9, 2017
Written by Marion Adams
Illustrated by Sarah Leigh-Wills
Age Range: 3 and up
Paperback: 32 pages
Publisher: Full Media Ltd
ISBN: 978-0-9930794-7-4
What to expect: Bedtime, Farm Animals, Sheep
Counting sheep can help most people slip off to dream land, but what happens when Tansy the sheep just can’t fall asleep?
Nestled in the fields around Lake Tor farm, Tansy and her family are settled in for a nice, long sleep. Owls fly past, the moon shines bright, and a mellow breeze blows. But Tansy the sheep is wide awake. She goes to her mother first, asking if it is time to get up soon, and is roundly told to go to sleep.
“But I can’t go to sleep! I’ve forgotten how to do it!”
Tansy tries everything, from thinking of her favorite activities, like nibbling grass, chasing her sister Teasel around a big rock at the top of Lake Tor, or resting under the warm sun. But nothing works. Next, she tries to count sheep – her own flock! She knows there are twenty sheep in the flock, but she comes up short at nineteen. Imagining the worst, Tansy wakes the entire flock! But alas, no sheep are missing. Tansy simply forgot to count herself. Now, with her flock awake, Tansy finally drops off to a peaceful sleep.
This is an adorable bedtime book with soothing prose and dreamy illustrations. The watercolors are calming and soft, just like the adorable lamb Tansy. And every parent knows the phrase, “I can’t sleep!” This charming book allows little readers to see what it’s like for everyone else when they are constantly woken up by a sleepless little one. The book also shows that sometimes sleeping can be hard, and children (and adults!) who are restless are not alone. Full of endearing little scenes and huggable sheep, this is a great book for any child’s bedtime.
Highly recommended.
Available Here:
About the Author
Marion Adams had her first poem accepted for publication while at primary school, and since then, she’s written lots more, even winning national prizes for some of them.
She worked for several years as an in-house copywriter with a publishing company, and now she helps other writers as a freelance editor and proofreader.
Marion writes for both children and adults, and her published work ranges from teen magazine stories to Bible commentaries for people who speak English as an additional language. She’s also supported literacy in primary schools, and she was involved in planning and running a club to nurture children’s gifts and talents, including creative writing.
She particularly likes writing for children as she believes stories can spark young imaginations, communicating all kinds of exciting possibilities and encouraging conversation.
Her two children are grown up now, but they both remember many happy times spent sharing a book at bedtime. Marion wrote Go To Sleep! with those times in mind, and she hopes both children and adults will enjoy reading about Tansy, the little sheep who forgot how to go to sleep.
Marion lives in Devon, UK, not far from the wild moors where Go To Sleep! is set. For more information, visit: full-media.co.uk/marion-adams/
About the Illustrator
Sarah Leigh-Wills is an award-winning children’s illustrator and author. An early calling as a vet at the age of 11 turned into a lifelong love of drawing animals. With a talent for knowing what makes children laugh and being able to engage with children on their level, Sarah has enjoyed a huge amount of success from her illustrations. Most recently with her project “Night Night My Little Tiger”, set to be featured on CBeebies Bedtime Stories.
“A gloriously adventurous trip into stripy imagination – I loved it.” DOM JOLY; Comedian & Journalist.
Night Night My Little Tiger
After training in Graphic Design, Sarah pursued that path into higher education where she won her first award, First in the UK & Ireland in the DAF (Design Against Fur) Award in 2007. At the same time, her work was featured at the London Design Festival. Happydesigner was founded in 2007 and early on Sarah was winning swathes of awards working with the speech and language book company, Clicketybooks. Sarah has worked with Pets at Home, Respect for Animals, British Airways, Sky, TalkCoach, Printing.com, Cornwall College and Crunchers. Sarah is known for her creativity, innovation and most importantly for the fun she brings to everything she creates.
Dedicated Reviews allow authors and illustrators to gain prompt visibility for their work. Full Media Ltd, the publisher of ‘Go to Sleep,’ by Marion Adams and Sarah Leigh-Willis, sponsored* this non-biased review. Learn more about getting a book review …