Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

The Magic of Sleep: A Bedside Companion

Rate this book
We have spent decades optimising our waking hours, but what about the precious hours after we doze off (or try to)? As the most active time for our brains and the most important element to a calmer, happier life, sleep has become the topic of our times. Drawing on the success of Calm, the #1 app for sleep, meditation and relaxation, Michael Acton Smith writes the ultimate handbook for healthy sleeping.Beautifully illustrated and packed with fascinating facts and anecdotes, these life-changing tips such as how to make your room sleep-friendly and how to use sleeping to improve learning, this book will tell you everything you ever needed to know about sleep but were too tired to ask. At once a bedside companion and a sleeping aide, The Magic of Sleep will be your solution to a better sleeping life, improving each of your waking hours. - Reduce your sleepless nights by finding the perfect soundtrack for dozing off.- Learn the new science of sleep, including how to create ideas while you're asleep.- Get to know your own subconscious by starting a sleep journal and exploring lucid dreaming.- Discover the best recipes for drinks and food that will make you drowsy.It's time to optimise sleep.

242 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 24, 2019

45 people are currently reading
369 people want to read

About the author

Michael Acton Smith

5 books27 followers
Michael Acton Smith, OBE, is the founder of Mind Candy and creator of Moshi Monsters, the BAFTA award-winning children's brand.

He is the co-founder of Calm and has launched many other entrepreneurial ventures from online retailer Firebox.com to tech networking event Silicon Roundabout. In 2014 he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the creative industries.

Michael Acton Smith is frequently listed among the most influential people in the digital industry (Guardian '100 Most Powerful People in Media', Wired 'Top 100 of Britain's Digital Power', and The Times '100 to Watch list". He lives in London and can be found on Twitter @acton.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
67 (24%)
4 stars
98 (36%)
3 stars
80 (29%)
2 stars
20 (7%)
1 star
5 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Ibrahim.
315 reviews113 followers
January 18, 2020
يقضي الإنسان ثلث حياته في النوم. لذا يجب عليك أن تجد الوقت لقراءة هذا الكتاب الممتع والفني بالمعلومات العلمية والنفسية وكذلك تمارين تستطيع ممارستها لتحسين نومك.

الكتاب يتميز بإخراج جميل جداً حيث جميع الصفحات بالألوان وتوجد العديد من الرسومات واللوحات الفنية وكذلك البيانية.

شكراً للدار العربية للعلوم لتنويع إصداراتها.

ونسيت أن أذكر أن
Calm
هو تطبيق على الهاتف يساعد على تحسين عادة النوم ويحتوي على الكثير من المواد
Profile Image for Andreea Ursu-Listeveanu.
538 reviews304 followers
Read
February 14, 2021
Apparently the book has more to offer than the audiobook (which I listened to), and maybe I could have used a phisical copy of it to help me more, but the information I got from listening to it is not as precious as I hoped.

I did find out the reason why I never sleep well in a new bed (when I travel for example) - it's because the left part of the brain is not asleep, but keeps guard. And this sounds so much like what it actually does the whole time, that it cannot rest even when I should sleep. My brain, that is.

Then I found out that the best position to sleep in is on your back, which for some reason I do lately, the worst is on your stomach and on the right side is also not very good (this one being my favorite position). Also helpful, spider plants are good to keep in your bedroom for the amount od oxygen they emanate.

Other than that there is some information about the history of sleep, a chronology of beds and matresses accross time, then of pillows, lists of books, characters, and movies about sleep (which I really don't think they should be in the book), some advice on what to do in case of insomnia (which is diagnosed only when one cannot sleep for 3 nights during the week and for a longer than 3 month period) from which I made a mental note for CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy), and a looooooooot of promotion of the Calm app. Which I understand, after all it's written by one of the co-founders, and it comes to support the app, but sometimes it reads like a more elaborate brochure.
Profile Image for Yasmeen Asha.
614 reviews84 followers
August 14, 2024
_ اسم الكتاب: سحر النوم
_اسم المؤلف: مايكل أكتون سميث
_ دار النشر: ثقافة للنشر والتوزيع
_عدد الصفحات:240
.
.
📌 رأيي بالكتاب:
.
"إن النوم تاج على رؤوس النيام لا يقدر قيمته إلا الذين يعانون من الأرق ، لذا، فإن بعضاً من الأرق، يتيح لنا إلقاء بعض الضوء على تلك الظلمة "
.
.
في هذا الكتاب يركز مايكل على إظهار سحر النوم أو بالأحرى جمالية النوم وأهمية النوم لجسم الإنسان وأهميته بالتأكيد في الحياة.
.
.
فالشخص العادي يحتاج سبع دقائق حتى ينام "نوم ساكن"
ولكن هذه المدة تختلف من شخص لآخر حسب العمر والجنس ، وأهم هذه العوامل القلق والاكتئاب فهما مرتبطان بعدم القدرة على النوم بسهولة.
.
.
يسهب لنا مايكل في عدة فصول عن النوم فمثلاً بدأ :
.
_ بعلم النوم : التعريف بالنوم ما الذي يجعلنا ننام وكيف ننام وبعض الاختبارات التفاعلية الممتعة.
.
.
_مشاكل النوم :
هنا في هذا الفصل يتطرق للأرق ومشاكل الأرق وكيف يؤثر على النوم والراحة الجسدية والعملية وكيف لك أن تحل مشكلة الأق مثلاً بشرب بعض المشروبات التي تعطي استرخاء للجسم و القيام ببعض التمارين الخاصة للاسترخاء وغيرها.
.
.
ويكمل بباقي الفصول كفصل عالم الأحلام وفصل سحر النوم وغيرها الكثير .....
.
.
أحببت الإختبارات التفاعلية كانت ممتعة، وتجعلك تشارك كأن الكتاب
قد كتب من أجلك حتى تقع في حب النوم.
.
.
أيضاً تحدث عن كيف تم اختراع أول سرير و أول وسادة و حتى فرشة السرير واللحاف.
.
.
بإختصار كتاب بمجرد أن تبدأ بقراءته حتى تشعر بالنعاس وأنك بحاجة لنوم لطيف مريح.
.
.
في الختام كما نقول فيما بيننا " النوم سُلطان " ❤️
أخبروني يا أصدقاء هل تحبون النوم؟؟
.
.
📌 تقييمي: 4/5
.
.
🔴تنبيه: هذا رأيي الشخصي ، ما يعجبني قد لا يعجبكم وما لا يعجبني قد يعجبكم ، ولا اقلل من شأن الكاتب او الكتاب ، وتقيمي ما هو الا رأيي الشخصي بعد قراءة الكتاب
.
.
#سحر_النوم #مايكل_أكتون_سميث#ثقافة_للنشر_والتوزيع #الدار_العربية_للعلوم_ناشرون
Profile Image for Tairachel.
303 reviews35 followers
January 20, 2020
[Book Review: The Magic of Sleep: A Bedside Companion by Michael Acton Smith]

Written by the Co-Founder of Calm, an award winning meditation and sleep app, The Magic of Sleep unravels the mysteries of sleep like what happens to our bodies and brains when we shut our eyes, and discusses how the way different civilisations have slept has evolved over time.

There are tons of sleep facts, quotes, dream and sleep journal prompts, meditations, recipes, advice on how to get a good night’s rest, and more. I liked how the pages were rounded so the book wouldn’t get dog-earred :)

I didn’t see many reviews on this book so I’ll be honest about my views. The book was rather repetitive and not very cohesive (at times it felt more like a compilation of scribbled notes by a high schooler).

There were no page numbers and a lot of the material felt like facts or quotes you could find on Google. There were a few pages that were pro-weight loss, and the book kept mentioning and plugging the Calm app which made the book felt like it was just a promotional material to get more people to download, use and subscribe to the Calm app.

Many thanks to @times.reads for sending me this review copy!
Profile Image for Rachel.
274 reviews6 followers
June 16, 2020
Sleep is a crucial part of our everyday lives. Many people may be familiar with the Calm app on your smartphone or tablet. The book "The Magic of Sleep: a Bedside Companion" is by the co-founder of Calm, Michael Acton Smith. In the pages of this book, he thoroughly discusses four issues dealing with sleep: the science of sleep, sleep problems, "The Dream World," and "The Magic of Sleep." At the end of each section, there is either a part for journal pages, a quiz, a dream diary, or checklists, all for your benefit to help yourself achieve a good night's sleep.
With how much sleep affects our daily routine, it's great that there is something available to help millions of people achieve restful sleep and increase productivity and moods. There is a plentiful amount of information available to us in this book. I love that the information is given in bite-sized portions on each page, as well as the fact that each page is engaging to look at with its bright, bold, and simultaneously calming illustrations. I recommend this book to anyone; you will find this scholarly information useful for yourself as well as others.
Profile Image for Elle (theartfulelle).
53 reviews215 followers
November 3, 2019
A beautifully illustrated little book that tells you everything you need to know, full of interesting facts and tips on helping you to get a better nights sleep.
Profile Image for Mateusz Hoffman.
10 reviews1 follower
April 24, 2020
Great, "easy" to read before sleep. A lot of colorful art and sleep-related facts.
Profile Image for Frank DiLuzio | franks_fiction.
201 reviews3 followers
January 25, 2021
Calm: The Magic of Sleep (A Bedside Companion) is filled with a plethora of information regarding sleep and revolves around their meditation and sleep app named Calm. I am a personal user of the app and enjoyed experiencing the various sleep stories and soundscapes with a premium membership. Unfortunately for those who aren’t paid members, you do not have access to sleep stories and other tools they offer to try in the book. The book’s artwork is beautiful and accompanied by researched facts, history, myths, and activities related to sleep. I enjoyed being able to track my sleep quality and conduct how I can improve its quality. “The ten steps to getting a good night’s sleep” I highly recommend checking out along with “does poor sleep contribute to Alzheimer’s disease” and “do the cognitive shuffle.” I find it a little strange there isn’t an identifiable author and page numbers (that could be personal preference). More importantly, the studies they mention in the book aren’t specifically cited or named (ex. One study shows). Besides that, and having to be a premium member on the app to check out most of their content, the book is an excellent resource of fun facts and beautiful imagery. I would have to give Calm a 4 out of 5 stars. Not a literary masterpiece but a great resource that I would recommend to anyone who is having a hard time sleeping.
Profile Image for Verena.
380 reviews
December 18, 2020
Ich geb's zu - mein Lieblinsort ist mein Bett & die meiste Zeit meines Lebens hatte ich kein Problem zu Schlafen, egal wo ich war. Dann, mit circa 28 bekam ich plötzlich Schlafstörungen, richtig heftige, die ich aber natürlich erstmal ignorierte. Bis es schlimmer wurde und sich auf meine Gesundheit, physisch und psychisch, auswirkte - ein Teufelskreis began. Insgesamt habe ich über 1 Jahr lang meist weniger als 3 Stunden pro Nacht geschlafen, manchmal gar nicht. Tees, pflanzliche Beruhigungsmittel, Schlaftabletten - probiert hab ich alles möglich damals, geholfen hat erst ein Klinikaufenthalt. Es ist zwar seither nicht mehr so schlimm wie damals, aber mein Schlaftalent von einst scheine ich verloren zu haben.
Die App "Calm" nutze ich seit über 2 Jahren, wenn die klassiche anxiety auftaucht und ich mich entspannen möchte. Daher war ich besonders interessiert, was das Buch über "Die Magie des Schlafens" für mich bereithalten könnte. So viel vorab: hier wird das Rad nicht neu erfunden. Allerdings finde ich, dass das Buch ein sehr schöner Einstieg in die Thematik rund ums Schlafen ist, wunderschön aufgearbeitet - wissenschaftliche Erkenntnisse über Schlafen gespickt mit historischen Informationen und Zitaten verschiedener Persönlichkeiten übers Schlafen. Vieles davon hatte ich zwar schon gehört, teils unabhängig von meiner Schlaf-Problematik. Natürlich wird auch immer wieder erwähnt, wie man die App "Calm" nutzen kann, allerdings ist es keine Dauerwerbesendung (im Gegensatz, es wird sogar die Smartphonenutzung und ihr Einfluss auf unseren Schlaf hinterfragt).
626 reviews2 followers
March 21, 2022
I was hovering between 3 and 3 stars for this book and after quickly flipping through it again, the lack of page numbers had me land on 3 stars.

Overall, it was a good book. Lots of information, scientific and otherwise. Plus there were some helpful tips on how to get a better night's sleep.

What some consider great arrangements and thoughtful design, I found a bit scattered and annoying. However, I have to say that throughout, the layout was different from many books I have seen.

In the absence of a good bathroom reader (see my review on the last imposter), this was a good substitute as the sections were relatively short. Plus, most of the time I read it was in the bathroom, just before bedtime.

I think that this book is a worthwhile read for anyone like me who has had trouble in the past getting a consistent level of good sleep.
Profile Image for Jeannie.
21 reviews
July 13, 2025
I appreciate this book has a few ‘adverts’ for the Calm app, but why not? You get many more adverts in any general magazine or newspaper, online or otherwise! But I’ve had the Calm app for years now, so when I saw this book, I had to get it!

I very much enjoyed this book, I found it informative and intelligent, with a lot of useful information and new information I didn’t know about, so felt I had educated myself on the art of sleep.

As I suffer from sleep apnea and asthma, some of the suggestions were very enlightening and I felt, even though common sense, still extremely useful.

All in all I finished this book very quickly. I liked the formats of the pages, I liked the different fonts, the lovely calming colours of purples and blues, and the informative facts, I highly recommend this - and the app!! 😄
Profile Image for Madame Histoire.
406 reviews8 followers
February 28, 2021
A short overall okay interesting book on sleep, from some scientific facts (he quotes 'Why we sleep' a lot) to some fun facts (not that interesting, there are just lists) and techniques to improve sleep (which basically aim at making you want to download and subscribe to his app, Calm~ an apparent convincing marketing prompt because I ended up doing just so... mostly for the Sleep Stories because to be honest the rest can be found easily online for free)

I'd say give it a go if you are interested in the matter but cannot stomach the much better but heavy Why we sleep, and come across it at the library (like for myself), but wouldn't necessarily say that its worth its price otherwise
(audiobook ~ so I cannot speak for the beautiful illustrations mentioned in other reviews)
Profile Image for William Cooper.
5 reviews
February 8, 2023
Good audio listen, liked the parts about how to ensure a good night's sleep (e.g., day light exposure is key, eliminate screen time 1-2 hours before bed, add plant to room and some blue too, sleeping in complete darkness is key (eye mask could be good). Try to have a consistent bed-time.

Lil blurb on Lucid Dreaming (recommends setting an alarm for 5 hours after going to sleep, then waking up and staying still for one minute, then going back to sleep).

Recommends gratitude journal prior to sleep to ease mind.

Keep a dream journal to improve dream recall - write down everything when you wake up, doesn't have to be a perfect story (dreams never are) just write what you remember.
Profile Image for Alicia Penney-Harnum.
5 reviews
May 13, 2022
A nice little book to lay on the nightstand. It has whimsical and colorful illustrations and fonts throughout and a plethora of facts, quotes and snippets of data about Sleep. There are a few little interactive quizzes, instructions for experiments to try getting a better night's sleep and more. I'm only giving it 4 stars because although I did enjoy the book and get some very helpful information, I felt there weren't enough sources referenced or follow-up information given. If Sleep is something that you struggle with or wish to learn more about...this book may actually help you!
Profile Image for Hayley (Shelflyfe).
386 reviews8 followers
February 27, 2020
Some interesting elements, and I have downloaded the app which I like, but I don't think I would read this again. I am going to pass it on to a friend that I think will get good use of it though.
It was a very pretty book and I loved some of the illustrations and quotes. I did also like the facts about different cultures and their approach to sleep i.e. that partners in Scandinavian countries share a bed but have their own duvets!
Profile Image for Briana Kelly.
275 reviews13 followers
May 7, 2021
Overview: Book about sleep from the meditation app Calm

Likes: Light read, pick up/ down easy to read book, beautiful visuals, good mixture of facts and illustrations, some great tips throughout, lovely to read before falling asleep

Dislikes: Nothing ground breaking in this book, it is just a light, easy read.

Recommend For: This would be a great gift. Another book I highly recommend on the topic of sleep is The Sleep Revolution by Arianna Huffington
Profile Image for Brigitte .
418 reviews
May 17, 2020
Whoever did the layout for this book needs to be commended. Impressive display of facts, and illustrations to engage the reader so as not to feel overwhelmed with information. I also appreciated the usage of different fonts to keep it interesting. There is a fair amount if knowledge in this book about sleep I'm sure the general reader didn't know.
Profile Image for Duaa Al-Dhamin.
88 reviews10 followers
August 27, 2020
أعترف أن إخراج الكتاب الجميل والوان صفحاته الرائعة هي أكثر ما جذبني اليه بداية ..
يحتوي الكتاب على معلومات شيقة وغريبة وممتعة تتعلق بالنوم وعالم الأحلام ..
كانت الترجمة هي السبب الرئيسي في سقوط نجمة من التقييم ، حيث كانت اشبه بالترجمة الحرفية لمحرك البحث قوقل ..
ومع ذلك الا انك نجد طريقك للمتعة مع هذا الكتاب الذي يكسر روتين الكتب ذات الصفحات البيضاء و الخط الأسود المعتاد !
89 reviews2 followers
June 25, 2021
Better than the first calm book, but that’s not really saying much. Some interesting ideas and info, but probably still lacking, and feels too much like an advertisement for the app.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the app and use it daily, but one page talking about it would have been ample.
Profile Image for Mourning_elf.
585 reviews28 followers
August 24, 2022
Menarik banget karena full colour, jadi yang baca semangat. Ga macam why we sleep yg penuh tulisan sampai sekarang ga dilanjut lagi haha. Banyak liat dan fakta2 menarik tentang tidur, ada juga quote2 nya. Sayangnya banyak iklan tentang aplikasinya sih, ya namanya juga jualan ya.
11 reviews
April 7, 2023
Really easy and entertaining book. Lots of pictures and artwork is superb. Some good tidbits throughout, but at least half the book is light and humorous.
If you want a serious sleep book, look at Matthew Walker.
Profile Image for tye.
27 reviews1 follower
February 13, 2020
A great book to calm your mind and relax and get a great night's sleep.
478 reviews1 follower
November 9, 2021
This book was so easy to read. It spill the tea on all the celebrities with sleeping problems. I don't think any sub-topics regarding sleep are left out. This is a sleep encyclopedia.
Profile Image for Quinn.
109 reviews4 followers
October 5, 2022
Some interesting ideas and information, but nothing amazing and it plugs the app a lot.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.