Iris is cross. She’s in the middle of a game, and her mother, tired out by the baby, is angrily telling her to go to bed. Why are grown-ups allowed to stay up later? Why do you have to go to bed if you’re not tired? And why doesn’t sleep come anyway? Who on earth is the Sandman?

Her dreams take Iris with them into the forest, to a farm, under the water and finally to the mountains. At that point the dream becomes a little frightening when Iris meets a sleepy monster suffering from insomnia! Fortunately, when Iris wakes up in the morning everything is back to normal. Even her mother is more cheerful.

Close your Eyes, Iris! is a book about the fascinating and still largely unknown world of sleep. Many exciting aspects of sleep receive a child-level explanation which will also interest adult readers: how do fish sleep? And what about jellyfish, which don’t have brains or eyes? How can bears sleep all winter? How do sleep and sleeplessness affect the human brain, nervous system and cells? Why is it sometimes really difficult to wake up?