The Bestselling Book That Makes Kids Fall Asleep Has a Sequel
Parents who know how difficult it is to get their children to sleep may have turned to The Rabbit Who Wants to Sleep , a best-selling book that uses psychological tricks to help young listeners fall asleep quickly in desperate, blurry eyes. About a year ago, Iread my daughter’sbook before bed, and three times out of five it worked great. (And that made me yawn violently.)
The author, Swedish psychologist Karl-Johan Forssen Erlin, has released a sequel to The Tractor Who Wants to Sleep . During a dozing trip around the farm, the main character, Tractor Alex, together with his uncle Yawn, counts the stars, sways sleepy flowers and transfers all daytime thoughts to a boat sailing on the lake. I feel a little sleepy just typing this. As with Erlin’s first two books (he also wrote one called The Elephant Who Wants to Sleep ), parents are encouraged to read the story out loud while the children listen to the words, often yawning and really slowing down the pace of writing anything in italics. …
Dr. Umakant Hatwa, director of sleep labs at Boston Children’s Hospital, explained to CBS News that Erlene uses techniques that “induce a kind of hypnosis,” including certain phrases.
My advice: do not present the book to your child as a fairy tale in order to sleep. I did it last time and damn kids are smart.