rabbit-whoThe Guardian reports on a 2014 Swedish self-published picture book whose English translation has, by word of mouth, suddenly shot to the top of Amazon’s bestseller lists on both sides of the Atlantic.

While it doesn’t seem to work for everyone, The Rabbit Who Wants to Fall Asleep helps a remarkable number of parents get their children to fall asleep quickly and efficiently. The book uses psychological techniques to ease children into feeling drowsy, not unlike relaxation or meditation tapes, when parents read it aloud to them. (Perhaps it “changes their brain”?) It is available for both Kindle and Audible, as well as in print.

[Author Carl-Johan Forssén] Ehrlin decided to self-publish, saying that “in Sweden I see a trend that the books that sell best are often self-published. There’s a new era growing in the book business where people who are active in social media becomes the new bestsellers.”

The book currently shows up at the top of the list of Amazon’s best sellers, and the top of Barnes & Noble’s top 100 sellers, too. It’s nowhere to be found on the New York Times’s top ten list of children’s picture books, though, which is odd given how well it’s selling at the two biggest on-line bookstores.

Still, it’s great to see a self-published book meet that kind of success. It might just make a great gift for any parents of young children you might know—especially if they find bedtime a struggle.

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