As babies can only see in black and white for around the first five weeks of their lives, the Little + Sleepy books are designed to engage babies right from birth, with bold black and white graphics that babies can actually see. Designed to help mum and dad establish really healthy sleep time routines through reading to them from day 1, and because the babies can actually see the books they respond to it so great feedback for new parents.

As babies grow and the story is understood the soft pillow toy becomes a tool for getting little ones to sleep, “Now you have to go to sleep so Sleepy Koala can wake up and look over you,” when the book and toy combine they can be used as a special bedtime trick. Further down the track, the book is a great first reader particularly for children suffering from dyslexia. The rationale for this is that the author is dyslexic herself, so she has designed the book in a dyslexic-friendly format, from the fonts to the non-use of any glyphs or serifs that can present reading obstacles. The sentence structure is also designed to be easy to read, using repetition and onomatopoeia rather than forced rhyme, so it is more natural to read aloud and encourage a relaxed transition to sleep.

The Sleepy journal is an amazing tool for mums and dads. Right from birth mums and dads are encouraged to record all the up and down times of babies so they can track where they are at with sleep times and feed times. This journal helps parents continue this on until they have found their feet. All the way through the journal there are sleep tips supplied from other mums which are clever tricks that they have found to work. Each of the tips is honest, down to earth and not dictative. The tips are just funny little clever tricks that might just be something that they have not tried yet, and some times a change of tact can just do wonders Complemented by12 encouraging messages that reassure, ground and make tired parents giggle a little. There are also 12 bold patterned pages that are great for when parents are out and about, which can be used as focal tools as it gives the baby something to concentrate on until the food/sleep/clean nappy arrives. Designed with love, this is the perfect first gift. Written and illustrated by NZ author Kat Merewether.