But I'm not sleepy!

     If I had a dime for every time I have heard that from a child who could barely hold their eyes open, I'd be a rich woman!  This is the plot of Jake Stays Awake, where the little  boy Jake refuses to go to sleep unless he can sleep in the bed with his parents.  Of course his parents are less than thrilled with this sleeping arrangement, but in order to get Jake to close his eyes and go to sleep, they allow him to come get in the bed with them night after night.

This drove his poor parents
Straight up a tree-
they had a bed made for two, Not a bed made for three.

"We love you, dear Jake,
but we can't even doze.
How can we sleep
with your toes up our nose?"

      The book continues along this pattern with the family trying several different sleeping spaces; they tried the bathtub, where the family got stuck.  Then they tried the kitchen, but Jake couldn't sleep because he was too busy stuffing his face.  They even tried the trash cans but couldn't get the smell of liverwurst out of their clothes.  When the car was too boring, and his dad's snores were too loud, he had an idea that had never occurred to him before.... his bed!!!


      I think many parents and children will be able to relate to this story.  It talks about many issues that children face daily.  Teachers could start the book by asking if students have ever been afraid of the dark.  Students could share why they are afraid of the dark or any bad dreams they might have had that kept them awake. Or the teacher could ask the students if they have ever been scared to be separated from their parents. This is a very common occurrence that children face, especially when they start school for the first time. They could share with other students things that make them feel better at night or when they're away from their parents. For an activity, students could draw in their journal a picture of their bedroom at night and draw ways that might make someone feel better about being alone in the dark.  They could offer suggestions like a night light, a favorite stuffed animal to cuddle with, or having their parents read to them until they fall asleep.


    I would also tell my students how my son and I handled his fear of the dark. I would them that my son was scared to sleep in his own bed until we put a night light and a music player in his room.  Now he sleeps in his own bed  (almost) every night.  I would also share with my students that my son cried every morning his first week of preschool because he didn't want to leave me.  He looked at me and said "my whole little life in this world is ruined!!  But after the first week, he loved school so much that he didn't want to leave at the end of the day! 

      Another very similar book is Little Bunny’s Sleepless Night by Carol Roth.  It is about a rabbit  that does not want to sleep in his room alone until he realizes that his own bed is the warmest, safest one ever!

My favorite part of this story is the ending:

His parents are happy again
with their son,
and everyone's realized
it's not always fun
to have kids sleep with parents night after night.

But every once in a while?
Well, that's quite alright!!


After all, we all need a little comforting every once in a while, don't we?