Pick Your Nose (Kip’s Guide to Bedtime: Limit setting disorder/sleep onset association) by Robert Boddington and Jack Robertson, illustrated by Yoon Park and Matt Hughes

Title: Pick Your Nose (Kip’s Guide to Bedtime: Limit setting disorder/sleep onset association)

Author: Robert Boddington and Jack Robertson, illustrated by Yoon Park and Matt Hughes

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Published: August 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 56

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: Help your child fall asleep by themselves

Does Luca really need Mum and Dad to always tuck him in at night? Does he need Mum and Dad to do everything for him? Hopefully Kip can help figure it out.

~*~

Lucas is having trouble going to sleep – and he wants Mum and Dad to come and tuck him in – he can’t go to sleep without it! But then Kip appears and asks him about all the things he does on his own that he doesn’t need mum and dad to help him with – so, Kip asks, why does he need Mum and Dad to help him go to sleep?

This Kip story explores a common problem that children often have – going to sleep on their own – without having someone else in the room with them. Kip and Lucas explore empowering Lucas to fall asleep alone – he can do everything else for himself – he is independent and going to sleep alone and helping himself fall asleep again when he wakes up in the night, because Mum and Dad are not always going to be able to help him.

The research of Professor Harriet Hiscock, a leading figure in paediatric sleep studies has inspired this series of books designed to help families navigate a range of sleep issues and challenges, and her scientific insights have been distilled into charming and captivating stories that speak to children on their terms and in ways that they can understand, so they can learn about proper sleep and empathy. This story tackles children struggling to go to sleep without mum or dad – and this book can help families navigate the challenges around kids who get up early and show them how they can cope with what is going on in your lives. The story captures the worries of going to sleep and what it must feel like for young children who struggle to sleep.

Pick Your Own Nose shows how Lucas discovers that he can fall asleep himself when he wakes up in the night, and that he can do it himself. Just like he dresses himself, feeds himself, and picks his own nose – something that will give kids a giggle. Pick Your Own Nose uses humour and empathy, and delightful images that children can engage with and understand, and it highlights the challenges that many children can face in a safe way, letting them know that their feelings and struggles with bedtime are okay – and that there are always ways to get through these challenges so they can grow and flourish. The Kip books allow children to see how their actions can impact other people in books like this can help them understand more about the world around them as they grow up and become part of the world that everyone must find ways to live in every day. I think the colourful images and short stories will engage adult and child readers, creating connections and teaching lessons in a fun and shiny way.