Dexter has always been a great sleeper. He was sleeping through the night at 3 months and doesn’t get up before 8am most mornings. His bedtime routine is pretty straightforward. He’ll give mummy a kiss, then daddy takes him “Up the Wooden Hill to Bedfordshire” via the bathroon to “Polish His Pearly Whites”. This used to be followed by storytime with daddy but we’ve had to cut these out as he gets too excited. Whipping out The Gruffalo at bedtime will see him jumping around in his cot and babbling for the next half hour. Just look at this cheeky face!

Storybooks still have their place in this house and reading is very important to us, but before bed Dexter simply has to be alone to relax.

Recently however, it’s been a struggle to get him to settle. He’s so curious at the moment and hates the though of missing out on anything. So when Bizzy the Butterfly contacted me about trying out an audiobook - I thought it could be the answer to our problems.

Designed especially for babies and toddlers these audiobooks are a pleasing mix of music and storytelling. We trialled Bizzy the Butterfly and the Creepy Crawly Co-operating Caterpillar which is a sweet morality tale (I won’t give too much away) that’s all about friends coming together and helping eachother. The music is gentle and soothing making it ideal for bedtimes, and the story is narrated beautifully by Carly Halse (presenter of the children’s dance and movement show Learn to Dance on the Tiny Pop channel).

I love the way the that Emily Longmore’s book encourages children to interact with the story. They’re asked lots of questions which I can only imagine is great for talking tots (I can’t wait for this as “Mama”, “Baba”, and “Dada”, oh and “ARGHHH”, is wearing a bit thin). Emily has a background in music, English and children’s entertainment, and it really shows. It refreshing to find a story for babies that isn’t ridiculously dumbed down - the patterned language and repetitive music makes it really engaging for little ones, and easy for them to join in… whilst not making mum and dad want to tear their hair out.

Bizzy the Butterfly and the Creepy Crawly Co-operating Caterpillar is the first title in the Bizzy the Butterfly set of audiobooks and is currently available in audiobook (£1.50), and audiobook CD (£3) for popping on when you’re out and about. Finally the book with the accompanying CD will be available from June 3rd. The next title to be released will be Bizzy the Butterfly and the Over the Log Frog in July.

Bizzy the Butterfly also has a shop where you can buy clothing for Bizzy the Butterfly hardcore fans. For more information, visit www.bizzythebutterfly.co.uk, or follow on Twitter and Facebook, oh and there’s a sneaky preview of the book on Youtube.

Credits are:

Written/illustrations - Emily Longmore
Narrated by Carly Halse
Music by Charlotte Harding
Theme tune by Tim Harding, sung by Eleanor Harding
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Thomas Sichel