Sleep Tight, Charlie
Princeton Architectural Press / Publishers Group Canada
By Michael Escoffier and Kris Di Giacomo
56 pages
age 5 to 8
Synopsis from Publishers Group Canada:
It’s been a busy day, and Charlie, like any tired rabbit, is ready for bed. He arranges his slippers and glass of water, finds his teddy bear, and checks to make sure there are no monsters under the bed. But just as he drifts off to sleep, TAP TAP TAP, a loud noise outside the window, wakes him up. It’s not just the tapping of Bird that keeps him up, Squirrel starts cracking nuts, then Mouse begins playing on the swings. Will Charlie ever get some rest?!
As parents we learn early on about the importance of a good bedtime routine. In Sleep Tight, Charlie, Charlie understands the importance of ritual to help him sleep too. The only problem is others don’t understand.
Sleep Tight, Charlie lends itself to a perfect bedtime story in many ways. The darker muted colours add to the evening feel. The sun is down, the world is dark in browns and greys, ready to sleep. When Charlie is woken up, elements of text are used to illustrated these sounds disturbing the silence. You can just hear the loud notice as you read these page-filling words.
Even the stories repetitive nature of taking the reader through Charlie’s routine lends to the repetitive nature of a bedtime routine.
Of course there are dashes of dark humour in the story too, with the characters that wake Charlie up and the brief dialog they have. There’s Charlie being so tired that his own routine gets messed up. And of course the surprising character that is stirred awake with all the activity throughout the story. A fun way to drift off to sleep with a smile on the kids’ faces.
You can get an inside peek at this book in the following video review, published within our Picture Book playlist:
Additional Reading: Good Night Tiger.
You can find a copy of Sleep Tight, Charlie from Publishers Group Canada or your local bookstore. Visit our Kid’s Books section for other great book recommendations.