Good Night, Harry (by Kim Lewis)

Harry, a toy elephant, snuggles under the covers of a big, warm double bed with his friends Lulu and Ted. Lulu is a stuffed animal toy sheep and Ted is a teddy bear. The two friends fall asleep instantly, but sleep eludes Harry. He reads a bedtime story, cleans his room, even exercises, but still cannot fall asleep. Then he begins to have worrying thoughts. His tossing and turning wakes up Lulu and Ted. Lulu sings a quiet song and Ted counts stars to comfort Harry and help him to get to sleep, which he does very soon.

This gentle bedtime story is reassuring in every way. The tone is calm and supportive, and while Harry does have a problem -- insomnia -- the reader feels all along that the problem will be resolved happily. Everything Harry tries to help him get to sleep is a tried and true technique: He reads, gets up for a while, cleans his room, does some low-key exercise, and finally wakes his friends, who help him.

The softly colored pastel illustrations have an incredibly cozy, plush, and realistic feel to them. The image of the three toy animals snuggled up together under a fleecy soft blanket is appealing enough to put anyone to sleep.

Author: Kim Lewis
Illustrator: Kim Lewis
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Publication date: May 12, 2004
Number of pages: 28
Hardcover price: $15.99