We’re delighted to have a guest blog from Rhiannon Findlay, Commissioning Editor of Ladybird Books, on the hugely popular Ten Minutes to Bed series and its importance in helping young children wind down before they go to sleep. Our Toppsta readers adore this series and we’re thrilled to hear there are lots more books in the series to come.
Over to Rhiannon to tell us more…
Ten Minutes to Bed is a series of beautifully-illustrated books from Ladybird, written specifically for bedtime. Set in the Land of Nod, each magical tale introduces a loveable character based on the latest toddler trends, from Twinkle the glittery unicorn to Splash the mischievous mermaid.
Instilling a bedtime routine is so important for young children, and reading to your child before lights out can play a huge part in this. Each story in this series follows a ten minute countdown to bed, beginning with an exciting adventure and winding down to a calm, soothing ending. The colours used throughout reflect this, moving from lively, vivid tones through to darker, softer colours that are less visually stimulating. As well as being carefully designed to help your little one fall asleep, each book takes approximately ten minutes to read – the optimum amount of time identified by specialists to spend reading with your child at bedtime. You can find more information by searching for BookTrust’s Bath, Book, Bed campaign and their Time to Read challenge.
The combination of stunning illustration and engaging, rhyming text has propelled Ten Minutes to Bed up the children’s book charts. Sold into 11 languages worldwide, Ten Minutes to Bed: Little Unicorn was one of the UK Top 10 bestselling picture books of 2018, and Twinkle the unicorn is proving a firm favourite among fans. You can even get your hands on an adorable Little Unicorn gift set, complete with cuddly toy!
Ten Minutes to Bed: Little Unicorn’s Christmas is out now; in this latest Little Unicorn tale, it's Christmas Eve and Twinkle is too excited to sleep… but someone very special is also awake, and is having a bit of trouble with his sleigh! Can Twinkle come to the rescue?
Ten Minutes to Bed: Little Dinosaur follows in July 2020, with Little Unicorn’s Birthday hot on its heels in September next year. Ladybird are also extremely proud to have partnered with StorySign, the free mobile app that translates children’s books into sign language. Little Unicorn and Little Monster are two of the titles that, thanks to StorySign, can now be accessed by deaf children around the world.
Be sure to look out for more Ten Minutes to Bed adventures by following @ladybirdbooks or visiting www.penguin.co.uk.
