Letting go and going to sleep is such a hard thing for little children to do. And so stories about the process abound. You probably had a favorite one as a child yourself. Here's a lovely one by Quint Buchholz that is still in print--you may also find it at the library.
Quint Buchholz, Sleep Well, Little Bear. (New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1994). A little stuffed bear gets ready for bed, but even after changing into his pajamas, and hearing a story, and saying a prayer, and singing a song, and getting five kisses, a drink of water from the blue cup, and putting on his sleeping socks, and having someone blow warm air under the covers, he still can't go to sleep. He is not tired. So he gets out of bed and builds a staircase of books to the window, where he gazes out on the landscape illuminated by moonlight. Everywhere he looks, he sees traces of the events of the day--a shirt fluttering in the breeze on the dock, the sound of a violin, the lights of the barge. The pace and language of this book are so slow and peaceful, it's impossible not feel sleepy yourself.
