 For many parents, getting kids to fall asleep can be a nightmare. The paperback was written by Swedish psychologist Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin and tells the tale of Roger the Rabbit, the Sleep Snail and Uncle Yawn on their quest to help the rabbit go to sleep. Along the way, they meet characters like Sleepy Snail and the wise Heavy-Eyed Owl who give Roger advice on how to fall asleep faster. Mr Forssen Ehrlin claims to use language patterns and complementary images to lull even the most energetic child to sleep over the course of its 26 pages. The book - with the words "I can make anyone fall asleep" emblazoned on a sign on the front cover - allows parents to personalize it by using the child's name, and it offers written cues for parents, such as encouraging them to yawn at the end of a sentence, to help them tell the story more effectively. "Use the story about The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep when exciting things are happening, or when something temporarily makes it difficult for your child to fall asleep." Since going on sale, The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep has rocketed to the top of Amazon’s best sellers list. The Rabbit Who Wants To Fall Asleep will help you accomplish the task of getting your child to have its beauty sleep and sleep well all night.
– A new children's book isn't just written for kids—it's written to make them fall asleep, and fast. Author Carl-Johan Forssen Ehrlin, a Swedish behavioral psychologist, says he filled The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep with psychological reinforcement techniques to make young listeners doze off in minutes, the Independent reports. "These [techniques] are formed in a way to help the child relax, fall asleep faster and sleep calmer every night," Forssen Ehrlin says. "The tale gives suggestions to the child's unconscious mind to sleep." Not only does protagonist Roger The Rabbit encounter characters like Sleep Snail, Heavy-Eyed Owl, and Uncle Yawn, but parent-readers are instructed to yawn often and speak italicized words in a calm and slow manner, the Telegraph reports. Think it's bizarre? Well, it's the first self-published book to top Amazon's best-seller list. Forssen Ehrlin says he got the idea on a long road trip when his mom dozed off, and he realized the power of his techniques. He devised a story within three years, and saw the Swedish version published in 2011; the English translation appeared last year. In the story, Roger The Rabbit "is just like the child" in needing to fall asleep, a doctor tells CBS News. "So the whole time, you're talking about sleep, you're trying to solve a problem about sleep and you see how the character falls asleep." But while Amazon reviews are mostly glowing, Imogen Williams at the Guardian considers the book's manipulation "sinister" and "terrifying": "Bedtime stories are not, to me, about deceiving your child into conking out," she writes, and vows to continue her "bedtime pilgrimages up and down the stairs. After all, there’s always gin." (See 15 sad, strange things that keep us awake at night.)