What a lovely book, a simple ode to dreams with beautiful soft artwork that captures the shifting of dreams very nicely. It would help to explain bad dreams and encourage sleep at bedtime too...

Great bed time story - a fantastic way to explain the concept of dreams and touches on bad dreams too. The illustrations are lovely

*thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review*

4 stars.

What a beautifully told children's bedtime picture book. I loved the little story. It was sweet, fun and easy to read. The illustrations are also done so brilliantly, they really are a nice touch to this. The story is definitely one of those types that leave you with a warm and comforting feeling by the time you have finished it. You know the kind. The ones your children will want you to read over and over and over again. The imagination of the little girl in this story and the adventure that her and her friend, 'Sleep' take while in Dreamland, is just so well written and enjoyable. Even adults wont mind the endless re-reads of it as it really is a great book. Highly recommended.

Well, this is no lullaby. It's actually a very dramatic fantasia, as a young girl gets swept away into the world of dreams by her friend Sleep, and hitches a ride on a dragon, defeats a monster – and a lot more. It's not suitable for last thing at night, then, and you would in fact need to accompany the book at least at first to point out the moral, that the world of dream remains just that and that nothing need be scary when the lights are turned out. Decently illustrated – amazing what the lack of yellow and green will do to a book...

My Friend Sleep by Laura Baker
Illustrated by : Hannah Peck
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures
ISBN: 9781786032997

Thanks to NetGalley and publisher Quattro Publishing Group - words & pictures for the ebook ARC of My Friend Sleep by Laura Baker and illustrated by Hannah Peck in exchange for an honest review.

A journey with a little girl through her dreams, alongside her friend Sleep. They meet friendly aliens, ride on a dragon’s back and get to meet a scary monster… who turns out to be not so scary after all. With sleep by your side, nothing is as scary as it seems.
This magical picture book opens a door to children’s imaginations and helps their fears around sleep and night terrors.

I give this book a rating of 4 stars. I read this book to my 4 year old daughter at bedtime. She enjoyed the adventure between the little girl and her friend, Sleep.
The illustrations are nice and the story leaves you feeling warm and comforting. The characters and cute and its a perfect bedtime book.

#MyFriendSleep #NetGalley

What a lovely story My Friend Sleep is! The illustrations are wonderful and they complement the text beautifully. This is a perfect bedtime read-aloud.

The perfect bedtime tale to go with any routine you have at home. The full page illustrations are stunning and will entertain all who read.

This is a sweet book about a little girl and her faithful nighttime friend who comes to call on her when she finally snuggles down into her bed. His name is Sleep and he comes nightly to take her by the hand and lead her into Dreamland.

They happily explore the wonders of the night together. The duo stop by a fantasy land bursting with delicious sweets and scrumptious treats and spend time sampling all the yummies.

Sleep is not scary at all...

"Sleep sings into my ear,
and in my slumber I can hear,
Come with me, my friend, take hold of my hand.
Together we'll travel through night's dreamland."

The two have magical encounters with aliens, dragons and a scary monster that turns out to be not so scary at all once he is confronted by the brave friends.

This book celebrates dreams and the whimsical illustrations with their warm cozy colour pallet are spot on perfect to enrich the message of the text. It also addresses a child's fears when a dream is scary. "My Friend Sleep" is a wonderful bedtime story to share and discuss before you turn out your child's light, give her a hug and release her into the loving care of her bunkmate, Sleep.

My friend Sleep is a lovely picture book about a child who falls asleep and starts to dream. She eats tons of delicious sweets, travels through a land of dinosaurs and fun, finds monsters, and eventually wakes up happy the next morning. The girl is always accompanied by her friend Sleep.

I find the drawings adorable and soothing. The story is nice and full of adventures. I'm not sure how I feel about the candy-related dreams. I think this part might encourage kids to want more candy, but I could be exaggerating.

Overall, it's a nice picture book.

I received this eARC free from Quarto Publishing Group - words & pictures NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks!

This is a great little book for kids who don’t want to sleep or have nightmares.. this helped my little one tonight a lot and I plan on readin it to him every night!

Absolutely breathtaking and perfect for a young child who is afraid of what sleep time may bring. Highly recommended.

4★
“Sleep sings into my ear, and in my slumber I can hear,
‘Come with me, my friend, take hold of my hand.
Together we’ll travel through night’s dreamland.’

Sleep is a friendly, amorphous, cloud-like character who comes to visit this little ginger-haired child at night. The phrase about holding hands and travelling together is repeated as they experience the wonders, adventures and fears that await in the night.

At first, I wasn’t particularly taken with the story or the illustrations. I expected rhymes or a bit of wordplay and more colours. So I glanced through it briefly.

And then. . . then I noticed the changing tone of the story and the background. At first it was fun, adventurous, flying! [I love to fly in my dreams, although I’ve never ridden on a dragon! I dream all the time, but I’ve seldom had nightmares. But I digress.]

I went back and read it slowly and saw how reading this with someone who Is afraid of the dark, or afraid of falling asleep (letting go), or afraid of being asleep (loss of control) could be comforted with the thought that “Sleep” is a friendly cloud that takes care of you no matter where your adventures take you.

And if the dragon drops you in a dark cave, what then? Monsters? No problem – zap! It’s really a big hairy dog (remarkably like the child’s dog at the end).

“Sleep hands me a magic wand.
I swish and sway the wand through the air, singing:
‘Swirl, twirl... In my dreams, everything’s not what it seems!’”

People who experience lucid dreaming are able to know they are dreaming and direct their thoughts in particular ways. This is a way of encouraging kids to know that their friend Sleep will be with them so they won’t really fall over the cliff or be chased by monsters. Of course it also means they won’t get to eat all the sweets and ice cream at the carnival either, but they can have fun pretending while still defanging the monsters. That might help kids learn to want to go to sleep! (One lives in hope.)

I changed my mind about the limited colour palette, too. If greens or blues had been added, for example, it could have seemed too much like daytime and real life instead of the way rooms really look in the dark with a few cracks of light slipping in under the door or at the edges of a window. There are some bright imaginary scenes (still unreal) and some dark ones.

The last page is still the limited palette of colours, but the artist has made it cheery and sunny and sparkly. (Note the dog sound asleep after a busy night of dream-haunting!)

I’m sharing some of the illustrations (there are a lot more) without interruption so you can get a sense of the flow.

Thanks to Quarto Publishing for my copy for review. #MyFriendSleep #NetGalley

This was an adorable book, perfect for storytimes about sleeping and dreaming. The imagery was magical as was the story.
I received an ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

If I didn’t already love this book, it was put way over the 5 star edge when the author describes something as helter skelter. I’m in love. Sleep is not just something you do at night, but a character and a best friend that can take you on amazing adventures. Yes sometimes the adventures can be a little scary, but sleep will be there to hold you hand and bring the monsters down to size. I love the story. I love the little sing song rhyme Sleep sings, and the illustrations are amazing. A five star read for all.

I enjoyed this book and think it is a perfect addition to any young child's library. To be honest, I didn't even recognize that the child in the book was a girl, I just saw her as 'a child'. I loved the illustrations and the colors used lent themselves well to the ideas of dreams and imagination. Beautiful drawings. The text/story is simple and easy for young minds while being the perfect tone for bedtime, preparing to sleep and dispel concerns of bad dreams. I recommend this book and hope for the occasion to purchase and gift it to friends.

I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great book for kids who are like my daughter and sleep is a bone of contention every night. I read this to her tonight and she started to doze off which she has never done while I read to her. I had to skip over the part about monsters because my daughter then would inevitably ended up in my bed. Good book nonetheless!

What a lovely bed-time book. This book is perfect for that last read, just before bed. For winding down and relaxing.
The illustrations are stunning, they depict the words perfectly and are quite dream-like themselves.

Wonderfully written, it makes going to sleep exciting!

Good read. Great illustrations! Fun and entertaining for kids. Makes sleep seem fun and realize that dreams are ok. Sleep is good. Read with kids! Would recommend!

A great book for the littles ones just before bed. The illustrations are so cute. The story is simple and easy for the little minds to digest. Highly recommend.

This book is a sweet story of dreams! Sleep is a friend who takes the main character through the dreams of the night. Sleep also empowers the child to turn a bad dream into something not so scary. This book is a beautiful work of art with lovely message for children drifting off to sleep. This one will be in our bedtime rotation for sure!

My Friend Sleep is a picturebook written by Laura Baker and illustratrated by Hannah Peck. This story is meant to help parents tackle the common issue of night terrors in young children. Readers travel alongside the main character through her dreams, and her friend Sleep. Greet friendly aliens, ride on a dragon's back and meet a scary monster, who turns out to be not-so scary after all. With Sleep by your side, nothing is as terrifying as it seems.

My Friend Sleep is a beautifully illustrated journey through dreamland. I liked how the artwork was dreamy and creative, following the imagination of the dreamer. I also like how it showed the good things that we can see in our dreams, and gives young readers a way to cope or change the bad that they might dream. The text and illustrations paired together well, and I think the overall effect was lovely. I am not sure if it will have the desired effect for children that are afraid to sleep and thus avoid bedtime and fight it, but I think it is well worth a try.

I received a digital ARC copy of this book via NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

What a lovely book about Sleep and all the amazing, weird and scary dreams we see. I love the illustrations especially the full page ones they are stunning.

Overall, it’s a good bedtime book.

The best kind of children's stories are the ones that have a lyrical pace to them. Writing a children's book may seem easy, and maybe many are. Canadian born Laura Baker steps her writing in My Friend Sleep up to a level so many other children's books by turning the words into a poetry with a lullaby tempo. Paired up with the gorgeous illustrations of Hannah Peck from the UK, My Friend Sleep is sure to become a parent and children's favourite. This is the kind of story that could have the staying power of I'll Love You Forever and could be gifted to parents from their adult children in the future.
I honestly cannot say anything but good things about this gorgeous story about falling asleep and not being afraid of the dark. I wish I had this book as a child and cannot wait to gift it to all the little ones in my life.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

As you nod off at night, Sleep is portrayed as a friend who comes to take you off on adventures. Very much told through simple pictures using light and dark for happy and frightening things respectively, dreams are made to be fun adventures through the night. Darker moments where fears are faced, soon become less frightening with Sleep there to guide you through.

This book would be grea5 for children who struggle with nightmares, showing that they are only dreams which leave before morning.

Many thanks to the publishers for giving me access to a copy of the book for review via NetGalley