‘‘It’s ridiculous, absolutely ridiculous, and to leave all the others up there is even more ridiculous,’’ Hazlehurst said. ‘‘The hypocrisy just makes me laugh.’’ Hazlehurst said critics of the book should be more concerned with offensive material in the media which could be easily accessed by children. ‘‘Anyone with a tenth of a brain would realise this is not meant for kids,’’ she said. ‘‘If (YouTube) are going to be consistent half of their content would have to be pulled off wouldn’t it?’’

A spokeswoman for the local publisher of the book, Text, said YouTube removed the video, stating: ‘‘This video has been removed as a violation of YouTube’s policy on depiction of harmful activities.’’ The reposted video had more than 300 views this morning. Comments posted under the video criticise YouTube for removing the original and praise Hazlehurst. The hypocrisy just makes me laugh. "Noni Hazlehurst reading a published book does not violate YouTube policy of depiction of harmful activities. Get real!" one comment says.

Others say they loved the video, although it had "shattered" their childhood. "Ahhh- if only this had been around 20 years ago for my sleepless tribe! Fabulous reading- Thanks Noni!" another commenter said. A YouTube spokesman said no comment would be made about individual videos, but they could be removed because a user had flagged them as offensive or because the person who had posed the video was underage. The video starts with the gentle plucking of an acoustic guitar over a black screen, then fades in to reveal Hazlehurst, the former Playschool presenter of 23 years, kneeling in front of a fireplace holding a children’s picture book. "Hello," she says in those familiar, soothing tones. "The story today is about a little baby who doesn’t want to go to sleep. And the baby is making Mummy and Daddy very tired. Do you know a baby like that?"

The 57-year-old actor gives her trademark Playschool laugh, and then says: "Here’s the story." The book by Mansbach and illustrator Ricardo Cortes is already a massive success, with about half a million copies in print in the US and about half of those already sold. In Australia, Text Publishing has printed 40,000 copies - a large first run for this country - and reports the book has been "flying out the door" since going on sale last Friday. Hazlehurst said she was sent a copy of the book by publisher Michael Heyward, and she immediately called him to say she loved it and wanted to record a reading of it. About a week ago, she took her spot in Heyward’s living room and delivered her reading to camera. "I totally related to it," she said. "My first child didn’t sleep until he was two, and the first time he did sleep through I thought he’d died."

The book, and her reading of it, is a bit of fun, she says, "but there’s a serious underlying issue. People need to understand when they’re talking about how nice it would be to have a baby that it’s a huge undertaking." Reflecting on her experience now, Hazlehurst says she thinks she probably should have sought help, but didn’t. "I thought because of Playschool that I should be able to cope, because I was able to cope with so many other things." - with Karl Quinn