FEET, GO TO SLEEP
Written by Barbara Bottner
Illustrated by Maggie Smith
(Knopf Books for Young Readers; 16.99, Ages 3-7)

A BLOG TOUR & GIVEAWAY

It’s Day 2 of this terrific picture book blog tour. And for parents who need a way to get their little ones off to the land of nod, we’re guessing the timing couldn’t be better!

“I’m not ready!”
“I keep thinking about today .”
“I don’t feel tired.”

How do you respond to hearing those words at bedtime, especially if you know it’s not procrastination, but more a case of simply not wanting a wonderful day to end? It’s difficult because we all at one time or another have experienced that hyped-up, can’t turn my brain off feeling just like our kids.

Feet, Go to Sleep by Barbara Bottner is the perfect read aloud picture book response to these occasional protestations. But frankly, it’s also a lot more. Reading Feet, Go to Sleep is an original way to teach children a popular relaxation technique (referred to in yesterday’s post as Savasana) for winding down to ensure a speedy visit to dreamland. Along the way, children can practice the process of putting each part of their body to sleep just like Fiona, the book’s main character, while recounting their day’s events either to their parents or to themselves.

It’s no wonder young Fiona can’t easily settle down. Her busy day at the beach with cousins, aunts, uncles and grandma, was packed with family fun and activities. Fiona keeps thinking about it all. First there was the dash to the beach. That involved toes gripping flip-flops. Then came feet. Watch out for splashes as they go “stomping in the waves at the ocean’s edge.”

Toes were easy. They went right to sleep.
“What’s next?” asked Mama.
“Feet, go to sleep!”

Thoughts of her carefree day continue as she pictures herself building a sand castle, launching a seaweed attack against cousins, munching down some scrumptious picnic lunch, then …

“Shoulders, go to sleep,” said Fiona, giving
them one last roll before they lay still.

Shoulders were for rubbing with sunscreen.

Playing carries on with a beach ball toss, followed by an outdoor shower back at home and then a barbeque at dusk, and bedtime. But can Fiona fall asleep when she’s tuned in to grown up voices chatting outside her open window?

Smith’s spot on illustrations have captured all the action and joy of a sunshiny day at the beach, so much so that you’ll find yourself ready to grab the sun block and join the group. And the blues she uses for her bedtime spreads are soothing and slumber-inducing.

Together Bottner and Smith have got it right with this lovely to look at and delightful to read story. I can’t think of a single over-tired child (or parent) who wouldn’t benefit from the simple steps provided, starting way down with toes, and feet, then moving all the way up the body and ending with …

“Eyes, go to sleep,” whispered Fiona.

If my kids were still young, I’d welcome the chance to introduce this powerful, yet peaceful way of releasing tension from their bodies, that’s cleverly wrapped inside an ebullient beach day bedtime story.

– Reviewed by Ronna Mandel

Check out all the great bloggers on this tour to get a variety of perspectives on Feet, Go To Sleep.

5/12 Booktalking #kidlit
5/13 GoodReadsWithRonna
5/14 Wrapped in Foil
5/15 Teaching Authors
5/16 Big Hair and Books
5/18 Frog on a Blog
5/19 Chapter Book Chat
5/20 In Bed With Books
5/21 Shelf-employed

AN EXCLUSIVE GIVEAWAY! See below. Plus, if you follow us on Facebook and let us know in the comments below, we’ll give you an extra entry. An additional comment on our Facebook post for this blog tour gets you yet another entry. Good luck!

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