Never Touch a Sleepy Lion!

Never Touch a Sleepy Lion! — tiptoe past, or don't

Bumpy silicone lions and wild animals on every page, all of them trying to have a nap, and rhymes telling your little one to leave them in peace. Small children find this instruction impossible to follow, which is the joke.

It's the gentlest of the Never Touch books — the same textures to prod, at a slower pace.

🦁 The sleepy one

Every range needs one you can read at the end of the day, and this is it. The animals are dozing, the rhymes are soft, and nothing in it winds a toddler up at the point when you'd rather they wound down.

That said, plenty of nine-month-olds use it as an excuse to practise their roar. Mixed results are part of the deal.

✋ Something to touch on every page

• Textured silicone touches throughout, one animal at a time
• Each texture different from the last, so there's a reason to keep turning
• Simple, clear rhyme scheme that little ones pick up fast
• Sturdy board pages and a compact 186mm square that fits in a bag

😴 Quiet, and deliberately so

No batteries, no buttons, no sounds. Just textures and rhymes. If you've already got one of the noisy books in the house, this is the antidote — and it's the one we'd suggest for the bedtime pile.

🛡️ Built for the treatment it will get

Silicone set into thick board is a hard-wearing combination, and these come through months of daily handling still looking respectable.

📏 Book details

• Format: touch-and-feel board book
• Pages: 10
• Size: 186 x 186 x 19mm
• Suitable from: birth+
• Written by: Christie Hainsby
• Illustrated by: Stuart Lynch
• ISBN: 9781805446255
• Features: silicone touches on every page, rhyming text

❓ Frequently asked questions

What age is it for?
From birth. Babies reach for the textures from around eight or nine months; the rhymes take over as they get older.

Does it make any noise?
No. This is a silent book — no batteries, no sound buttons, nothing to go off unexpectedly at bedtime. If you want the noisy kind, that's Never Touch a Noisy Monkey! instead.

Is it a good bedtime book?
It's the one in the range we'd pick for it. Sleepy theme, soft rhymes, nothing that makes a noise.

Will it survive a toddler?
It's built for exactly that. Silicone panels in thick board pages take a great deal of prodding.

Does it make a good gift?
A safe and lovely one, particularly for a new baby — the sleepy theme suits the moment.

📚 More Never Touch books

This is the gentle, bedtime one. Elsewhere in the range:

• Never Touch a Tiger! — the same wild animals, wide awake.
• Never Touch a Capybara! — the unusual one, and the calmest animal going.
• Never Touch the Zoo Crew! — zoo animals, made with London Zoo, a ZSL conservation zoo.

See the whole range in our Never Touch books collection.

❤️ From our family to yours

Carefully chosen products for babies, toddlers and parents. Browse more baby books and the rest of the Make Believe Ideas range — free UK delivery on orders over £25.