‘The Great Big Sleep’, like most of the stories I write, is semi-autobiographical and inspired by true-ish events.
It is a tale of two friends, Squirrel and Bear who are preparing to settle down for their long winter nap. But even after they’ve both had their supper, drank their milk and had one last mess about in the snow, Squirrel is still not tired.
As Squirrel tries his best to make himself sleepy in a number of ever increasingly noisy ways, he begins to test the patience of his friend, Bear. Not wanting to keep his friend awake any longer, Squirrel leaves the den and heads out into the snow.
With the night growing colder and the snow beginning to fall harder it’s up to Bear to find Squirrel and bring him home to the warmth of the fire.
‘Meanwhile, the den was so quiet that Bear couldn’t sleep because he was worried. Where was Squirrel? Bear lit his lantern and headed out into the snow to search for him.’
Although I have illustrated many picture books over the years, ‘The Great Big Sleep’ is the first I have both written and illustrated. It feels like it was a long time in the making but now it’s here I’m really proud of all the hard work that both myself and the publishing team have put into it. The book is published in the UK on 7th January 2016 by Penguin Random House.
I hope you enjoy reading it with your family and have a Great Big Sleep of your own.
http://www.randomhouse.co.uk/editions/the-great-big-sleep/9781849419888
Sean Julian
