Hushabye Lily

by Claire Freedman

Lily can't fall alseep. The farm is much too noisy and Lily is much too curious. "Hush now, Lily," says Mother Rabbit as the full moon rises over the farm. But Lily wants to hear the golden-eyed duck sing its duck lullaby and the cow tell its bedtime story. So Mother Rabbit and Lily embark on a sleepy,barnyard adventure and discover that each animal has a special way of preparing for bedtime. Mother Rabbit and Lily snuggle up in the shadowy stable. And as quiet falls over the farm, the last lullaby of the night is Lily's sweet, little snore.

Genres: Childrens, Picture Books, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

Published June 1, 2003

About the author

I’ve been a writer for over 15 years now, but it wasn’t planned!

I had a variety of jobs, including secretary, trainee buyer at Harrods, dental nurse, production assistant in a reprographic and printing company and various others.

I began to write after joining a creative writing class. I had no success with article writing, or short stories, or fiction, but the first children’s story I wrote, for a magazine called Twinkle, was accepted for publication. Hooray!!!

Things snowballed and a lot (yes lots and lots) of hard work later I now write full time and have over 50 books published. I still go to the same writing class and we have become a big happy family of writers!

For me, writing is the best job ever. I couldn’t imagine myself doing anything else. I love to create worlds for young children to enjoy and escape into – whether the stories are educational, bedtime, problem solving or just plain good fun. It’s also very exciting to see the first picture roughs, as my wonderful, talented illustrators bring the text to life.

I live on the Essex coast in a lovely two-bed-roomed flat, which I share with my husband, Michael. At long last I have an office to write in, with room for all my books and bits of scribbled on papers.

The seafront is (still) just around the corner, and I find a bracing walk (it gets freezing when the East wind blows from the North Sea!) or gentle stroll when the weather is warmer, is great for clearing my head and mulling over story ideas.

- excerpted from her website

Reviews

[Jeff Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Found this tucked away in a long forgotten box. A birthday gift for my youngest daughter when she was only 3 years old.
A real favourite at the time. Lots of lovely illustrations and animal noises to practice.
"Shhh" hushed the ducks to the rippling reeds.
"Shhh" hushed the cows to the leaves in the trees.
"Shhh" hushed the hens to the whispering wind.
Not sure that these lines ever helped her to go to sleep, but I do remember my love of sharing these words with her.

[Fatima Seraj Alam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me two feels. Firstly : it belonged to my cousin whose kinder sticker of 2006 was attached to the copy that was gifted to my three year old who started kindergarten last week. Made me feel so old. And secondly : my daughter has the worst sleep schedule and everything becomes interesting at night time. She will do anything to not be put to sleep so Lily in this book was very relatable that way.

[Rosa Cline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very nice bedtime story of a little rabbit that can't go to sleep because she keeps hearing various noises around the barnyard. With the help of her friends she finally finds sleep

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was okay.

[Terry]

This is a nice twist on a bedtime story. It's a soothing tale, with just enough humor to keep it in our bedtime rotation. Read more about our toddler's reaction to this book in the full review.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too much noise on the farm.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun story for practicing animal sounds and "shhhhh"

[Nicole Sandford · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit of a cheeky ending... Grade 2.