One night, lying in bed, Ariana (Dasha’s daughter) looked up and said:
“Mommy… I forgot how to sleep.”
That sentence sparked a conversation. That conversation gave birth to a world.
A world of baby Tibetan tigers and butterfly dragons. Colorful little creatures navigating the black-and-white edges of reality.

I Forgot How to Sleep is not just a children’s book. It is a human book.
Written by Dasha and her seven-year-old daughter, Ariana, this project lives at the intersection of imagination and truth — where bedtime fears meet the deeper realities of trauma, displacement, inequality, and survival.
For years, Dasha has advocated for human rights and anti-trafficking initiatives, raising funds and awareness through community efforts and partnerships. The deeper she stepped into storytelling — and into screenwriting — the more she encountered the real-world consequences of trauma. Be it refugees from war-torn countries or children living quietly in this country inside systems that failed them. Stories that do not get bedtime endings.

This book is here to remind us that every adult was once a child — colorful, open, unguarded, ready to give and receive love. A little boy. A little girl. Full of imagination before the world told them to quiet down, to suck it up. Taught them they love means loss and hope is hopeless and they are not enough.

I Forgot How to Sleep is about reclaiming that color.
Fifty percent of net proceeds will be donated quarterly to Human Rights Watch.
A reminder that imagination is not escape — it is out fundamental human right
And that every child (and adult) deserves to sleep without fear.