Son who couldn't sleep is inspiration for Long Bennington mum's book
A mum has had her first children’s book published after being inspired by her son who couldn’t sleep.
Fleur Baxter, of Long Bennington, endured four long years of sleepless nights, when her son Isaac struggled to nod off at night.
Instead of wallowing in despair, Fleur, who is also mum to one-year-old Arlo, decided to write about it in a book called ‘The Boy Who Couldn’t Sleep’.
It tells the story of a young boy who cannot sleep at night. He had tried everything, even counting sheep, but just couldn’t switch off.
He just had “so many things whirling through his head as he closed his eyes and lay in his bed”.
Fleur, 38, said: “Isaac is very excited by life and his imagination runs free. He constantly asks questions about everything and loves playing.
“I knew that Isaac wouldn’t be the only child that couldn’t sleep.”
It was only when Isaac started school at Long Bennington Academy last September, that he started to sleep better.
Fleur, who owns her own rhyming business from home, added: “It was difficult at times as I was always incredibly tired, but I wanted to turn it into something positive and that’s when I got the idea to write about it.”
Fleur sent her story to Austin Macauley Publishers based in London, but started to lose hope when she hadn’t heard anything from them after a few weeks, adding: “I just assumed that they were not interested, so I was delighted when they eventually got in touch to say that my story had passed their panel of authors, producers and publishers, and they wanted to publish my story.”
When Fleur first saw her book in print for the first time last month, she celebrated with a meal out with her husband – their first date night in more than five years.
The book has quickly become Isaac’s favourite bedtime tale and he asks his mum to read it to him every night ... before he falls soundly to sleep.
Find the book at: www.austinmacauley.com/author/baxter-fleur
