Summary: Go the F--k to Sleep is a bedtime book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don't always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, California Book Award-winning author Adam Mansbach's verses perfectly capture the familiar--and unspoken--tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. In the process, they open up a conversation about parenting, granting us permission to admit our frustrations, and laugh at their absurdity.With illustrations by Ricardo Cortes, Go the F--k to Sleep is beautiful, subversive, and pants-wettingly funny--a book for parents new, old, and expectant. You probably should not read it to your children. ~product description
Review: Our Children's Corner post is a weekly exploration of children's literature, but this week we also have a special post just for parents. When I read about this book pre-publishing I thought it was a brilliant idea. And now that I've read it? I think it's genius.
It's 10 o'clock at night and she's still dancing around her room. 'No, you don't need a drink or another hug (you've had 30), you can reach your stuffed animals because they're all on your bed...' If this scenario is remotely familiar to you and you have a sense of humor about parenting (and how can you not?!?), then this book is definitely for you.
This 20 page bed time story for parents is laugh out loud funny and beautifully illustrated. As the child tries the parent's patience, 38 minutes and counting, the parent's inner monologue is in rhyming verse reminiscent of so many children's bedtime stories. Frustration mounts as the parent gets more desperate but finally relief is in sight... Or is it?
I highly recommend this for any parent, new or old. Sometimes as a parent you just need to laugh -hey, it's better than crying! Right?
Final Take: 5/5
* If you don't want this book sitting around the house, you can get it as an audio book, read by Samuel L. Jackson, from audible.com -and at the moment it's free! (Special thanks to Jennifer in Virginia for finding this spectacular gem of a recording.)
6 comments:
I downloaded the audio and can't wait till I am with out the kids to listen to it
I haven't read it yet - or listened yet - but I know I'll love it. Because I'm sure I have had that thought - verbatim - once or twice! ;-)
I LOVED this book. I downloaded the audio version, and there is something about Samuel L. Jackson reading it. His frustration is so honest. We definitely have had our issues with our own kids that only get worse as they get older, so the timing of this hitting the market for us personally couldn't get any better. And yes, laughing is better than crying!
In our house a companion guide called Eat Your F-in' Dinner would also be appropriate.
And yes, SLJ's reading is phenomenal.
Oh Jenn, I would love that dinner book. I can't stand this age because they hardly eat or eat when the want to. Cooking for them is hard. We relax a bit in the summer because of the heat.
N has gotten better with trying what we put on her plate but D is horrible.
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