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'A fantastically fun, wonderfully sweet picture book. Perfect for restless children at bedtime.'


This is a very sweetly illustrated bedtime story written by Raven Howell and illustrated by David Barrow. In a nutshell, a little boy is trying to get to sleep. So he begins counting sheep. The problem is the sheep don't want to go to sleep, getting up to all sorts of trouble in his bedroom: investigating his toy chest swinging on his lamp, even trying on his underpants.
When I opened this book, I instantly fell in love with the lambs. The illustrator, David Burrow, is very talented and knows how to put across 'cheeky' in his drawings. There's so much to see on every page; I suspect children will enjoy the pics as much – if not more – than the story.
But don't get me wrong. The story's good too! The rhyming text is simple – although if I was the editor, I'd suggest removing 'neon tie-dye mixtures' – and there is rhythm to it, making it enjoyable for the adult to read. It's not overly long - perfect for tired parents at bedtime – and there's a fun twist at the end involving snails. Yes, snails!
If I was to suggest any improvements, it would be to work a little on the design and placement of the text. At present, the words are in a box at the bottom of every page. I'd be tempted to put them in amongst the illustrations. Also, I'd play a little with fonts and text sizing, making it eye-catching for the child.
All in all, this is a gem of a book. It's sweetly illustrated, colorful, and packed full of cuddly characters for younger children to relate to. I would happily recommend it to parents of 0 – 6 year olds. And to anybody who thinks lambs are cute; which is everybody, right!?

A 'Wishing Shelf' Book Review
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