Marshmallow Puffins at the Window  (Kip’s Guide to Sleep: Nighttime Fears) by Robert Boddington and Jack Robertson, illustrated by Yoon Park and Matt Hughes

Title: Marshmallow Puffins at the Window  (Kip’s Guide to Sleep: Nighttime Fears)

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

Genre: Fiction

Publisher: Murdoch Children’s Research Institute

Published: 1^st August 2022

Format: Paperback

Pages: 52

Price: $14.99

Synopsis: Help your child with night-time fears and worries

Hana’s scared of strange noises and shapes in her bedroom, but are they really the scary things she thinks they are? Hopefully Kip can help Hana figure it out. When it comes to bedtime, fears or worries are very common in children – especially children with a vivid imagination! There might be monsters in their bedroom, noises outside the window, or other worries that stop them getting to sleep. Learning to manage these fears and worries is really helpful for children and their families.

This book is a fun way to help children worry less at the start of the night by focusing on the power of positive imagination. Parents can help children also worry less by listening to their worries and then gently reassuring them that many of their worries are not real – there are no monsters under the bed!

~*~

Hana can’t fall asleep – she’s scared to go to sleep – there are strange noises in her cupboard, monsters everywhere and she’s worried someone will come in the window. Her imagination is turning everything that is normal and safe during the day into scary things at night. Shadows become monsters, and sounds are scary. So Hana calls out to Mum when she hears thuds and thumps – like any child would. But then Kip appears to help.

Kip uses fun and imagination to help Hana see that the sounds are fun things: marshmallow puffins dancing near the window, bear ballerinas trying to put their shoes on in the cupboard, or a dragon wearing a polka dot scarf – things that are not going to hurt Hana. This is a fun way to reassure children that their dark rooms are not scary, especially if they have a vivid imagination that makes them see things that aren’t there. It is filled with imagination and reassuring language that focuses on the child and their fear and worries and uses imagination to reverse the fears that they are imagining, and hopefully, take their fears away or help them cope with their fears. It is part of a series that examines different sleep issues and uses a bit of imagination and fun to help children through these issues. Nighttime fears can be something a lot of kids go through – making it common, but this book shows that there are ways to manage it and help children and their families. And often it is fun stories that have the biggest impact when it comes to things like this as it can make the topic relatable for children and adults. And it speaks to children on a level that they can understand.

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 scared at night and show them how they can cope with what is going on in your lives. The story captures the worries of going to sleep surrounding nighttime fears and what it must feel like for young children who struggle to sleep.