Good sleep is important for both children and parents. Sleep deprivation in adults, according to experts, can lead to many manifestations, including: easy anger; impulsiveness and aggression; irritability when the child wakes up throughout the night; feelings of anger when the child misses a nap; resentment because the partner gets more sleep, and on and on. Good sleep is fundamental to good health, including mental health.
These aren't just facts. They're the reality for parents with young children who face the challenges that cause sleep problems.
We're sure you know at least one family that has been or is currently in a similar situation, and maybe you are too.
It was the need to help a hero through separation that prompted us to sit down and think about what could be done. The child who inspired this story needed a little help to feel ready to sleep in his own bed.
And we all know the power of children's books, Desi (the illustrator) and Irina (the lyricist), for sure. And we decided to make a book. Just like that, out of pure necessity. Alongside the child, Irina thought about the text, Desi imagined the adventure, and one day Desi suggested to Irina that they meet to record the tale on a dictaphone. “If you don't have time to write, you'll talk,” said Desi. “I have chocolate cookies,” she added bribingly. And that marked the beginning of our adventure…
"As a mother, I wanted my child to be sure that he would receive support. To know that he would not be forced to be alone, that he could always come to us, or call us at night."
Irina Ilieva, author of the book.
What followed was a whirlwind of thousands of text variations, reasoning about why Tigger is purple, and over 1,000 hours of work, lots of cookies and tea. As well as writing the tale in verse to decide how it sounded better. The 3-year-old expert made some pretty serious decisions. 🙂
From the very beginning, we knew that we wanted to help parents and children as much as possible. To this end, we decided that we would necessarily consult with a child psychologist at every stage of the creation of the book. To be sure that the text, the story itself and the various elements of the book would gently and confidently guide the child towards accepting the change and perceiving the situation as another adventure. That's how we contacted Vanya Dunkova, child psychologist and chairman of The Bulgarian Association for Psychomotor DevelopmentShe polished certain moments with fine details and a different perspective so that the tale takes on its current form.
“There is an effect, definitely!”
We believe that other parents and children are going through similar challenges and will appreciate the support in this big change - separation into their own bed and room. And they can be sure that with "Night Adventures" they will have a faithful assistant in this process, which will make it easier and more colorful.