It's Time to Sleep, My Love [Hardcover]

Nancy Tillman (Author, Illustrator), Eric Metaxas (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 30, 2008 | Age Range: 2 and up

It's time to sleep, it's time to sleep,

the fishes croon in waters deep.

The songbirds sing in trees above,

"It's time to sleep, my love, my love."

As children prepare for bed, the world around them is also settling down for the night. Animals who live in the jungle, the forest, the sea—all whisper to their babies a soft refrain: It’s time to sleep, my love.

As comforting as a soft blanket and warm as a goodnight hug, Eric Metaxas's lullaby is lovingly brought to life by bestselling artist Nancy Tillman  (On the Night You Were Born) , whose illustrations celebrate the wonders of the natural world, and the bonds of family.

It's Time to Sleep, My Love is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Bestselling children's writer and illustrator Nancy Tillman creates a comforting bedtime story with gorgeous illustrations of animals settling down for the night. Like all of Tillman's children's books, It's Time to Sleep, My Love ends with the words, "You are loved."

Take a Look Inside (Click on any image to enlarge)

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From School Library Journal

PreSchool-K—Beyond the soothing titular refrain repeated throughout, troubles cripple this ode to bedtime ritual. Without strict stylistic technique, the verse is unnecessarily redundant, and cumbersome phrases such as "And as you dream inside your sleep" will trip up readers. Adults will surely have to explain the lines "Your dreams will be arriving soon./They'll float to you/in sleep's balloon./They'll be here when I snuff the wick,/you'd better close your eyelids quick." The book's design clearly favors Tillman's richly hued digital and mixed-media composite paintings over the text. Though fans of Tillman's On the Night You Were Born (Feiwel & Friends, 2006) will likely gravitate to this title, general readers will do better to look to other books for their evening routine.—Bethany Isaacson, Wheaton Regional Library, Silver Spring, MD
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Product Details

• Age Range: 2 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Feiwel & Friends; First Edition edition (September 30, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312383711
• ISBN-13: 978-0312383718
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (88 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,991 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreakingly wonderful October 2, 2008

By Peter G. Hawkins

Format:Hardcover

For any parent that has ever tried to get their little one to sleep - while falling asleep yourself - this is a gorgeous, heartbreakingly beautiful book. It will become a classic. The artwork is stunning, the story is truly loving. Whether you are a mom or dad, grandma, grandpa or know of a little one out there, you will find this book a treasure.

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Exquisite January 6, 2009

By Wendy D. Gadd

Format:Hardcover

As soon as this book by Eric Metaxas, along with its two sister books also illustrated by Nancy Tillman arrived, I ran around to Walter who runs my local bookstore in London, England. His comment was "Exquisite. There is definitely a market for these books in England". Eric's innate love of his daughter, of life, of God flows through the poetry of his lullaby. Three babies are due in my family this year, and all are going to receive a set of these beautiful books.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect October 18, 2008

By tzefirah

Format:Hardcover

The simple message is: It's time to sleep, my love. The artwork is stunning, done by an award-winning artist who specializes in nature. The animals are accurately depicted, but in dreamland settings. There is no better bedtime message than telling a child s/he is loved.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, poetic, and requested by my daughter April 19, 2010

By A. Hunt

Format:Hardcover

My 18-month-old daughter loves this book. And so do I. Even after I've gotten tired of the other books in her repertoire, I can still read this beautiful book.

I love the lyrical lilt of the words. I love how I can whisper them to her as she's falling asleep, as if it were some magical tune.

And we both love the images. Amazing artwork. She loves to look for the moon on almost every page, and to identify the different animals.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars bedtime book March 21, 2010

By Kristine in Phila

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I do really like this book, very sweet and well written - I especially like the "sister" book: "on the night you were born" and the related journal book - i recommend getting all three, not just this one. on a side note, another amazing book for going to sleep is called "I'll see you in the morning" - I cannot read it without welling up (in a good way). as good as "It's time toi sleep my love" is, I personally rank "I'll see you in the morning" a notch higher. that being said, I do really like this one as well

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I recommend this and "On the Night You Were Born" for every kid September 11, 2010

By A Kaysville Reader

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

We just got these two books yesterday and I'm blown away by both of them. My two-year-old is more of a Harold fan right now (Harold and the Purple Crayon) and has been put out with me for reading these the two times I have so far, but I'm sure when he gives them a listen he'll love them. I can see these books lasting for many years to come. I have to disagree with what appears to be the majority and say that I've found this a slightly better book than "On the Night You Were Born." Perhaps it's just my personal taste. I'll try to highlight the reasons I like this one better.

It's time to sleep my love:
Has more spectacular illustrations, in my opinion
Rhymes are all perfect, or nearly
Rhythm is perfect, (the reason it's described as a lullaby)
Text is more evenly distributed, 1-2 lines per page (4 or so on the last few pages) so each page gets roughly equal face time without disrupting the story, also helps with the soothing bedtime rhythm.
Is so sweet it makes me cry every time

On the Night You Were Born:
Also has beautiful illustrations
Rhymes are sometimes there, sometimes not, which works if you know what's coming but this annoys me a bit
Rhythm also works if you know what's coming but is not even throughout
Text is not as evenly distributed. One page has three words and another has eight lines. You have to flip past the short ones pretty quickly to keep the story moving which is sad because they're so beautiful I'd like to spend a little more time on each. This is not a big deal and the book is still wonderful
Also is so sweet it makes me cry every time
Tells kids that they are unique and special and loved

Get both these books, you'll be happy you did!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely illustrations, lovely prose. December 4, 2009

By Ferbert

Format:Hardcover

I've read this to my 9-month old since she was born. Now I don't even need the book - I whisper it to her by rote and her eyelids start drooping. It settles her before sleep. Simply beautiful!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars It's Time to Sleep, My Love May 7, 2011

By AvidReader

Format:Board book|Amazon Verified Purchase

Gorgeous pictures grace this book. There have been some critics who say the language is not modern enough, but I believe that children need to learn words in lots of contexts, so they can read classics later...so I do not have a problem with it. I really enjoy reading this book to my granddaughter. I keep it at my house for when she visits.