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9781665931335

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If you knew what was happening while you were fast asleep, you’d wake up right away. This enjoyable picture book begins as a typically hushed, lull-your-kid-to-sleep rhyming tale replete with cute animals settling down. It quickly turns into a vehicle for the author’s witty commentaries on less sedate nighttime doings—nocturnal creatures getting up to busy hijinks in the night. Raccoons raid trash cans, skunks tiptoe through the night, and crickets sing their hearts out. The author interrupts the verse to comment on what’s going on—that skunk is probably just making her way to bed, and those crickets are singing lullabies before going to sleep…right? Near the end, she imagines what several critters might get up to at night: Perhaps the bats don fancy clothes, and the fox prepares a lavish dinner. But who knows? Most of us are snoozing, so we don’t really know, do we? This isn’t your ordinary sleepy-time picture book, but it’s fun and may help kids relate to and dream about other sleepers. The contrast between the factual and fanciful material may confuse some readers, though. Grown-ups, beware: If youngsters imagine exciting adventures occurring while they’re supposed to be falling asleep, uh-oh…The illustrations, rendered in acrylic gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil and adjusted digitally, are delightful. Captivating musings on what happens when we drift off for the night. (Picture book. 4-7)   -- Kirkus Reviews * 01/01/2023 *

"""Captivating musings on what happens when we drift off for the night."" -- <I>Kirkus Reviews</I> ""Kastner masterfully plays with readers’ expectations and format conventions, creating a story that is both funny and thought-provoking."" -- <I>Horn Book</I>"

Author Information

Emmy Kastner is an author and illustrator of children’s books. A former high school teacher, Emmy taught English and science in San Francisco. Upon moving back to Michigan, she cofounded the youth writing center Read and Write Kalamazoo (RAWK). RAWK is devoted to celebrating and amplifying youth voices through the cultivation of reading and writing skills via joy, creativity, equity, and access. Emmy lives in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with her husband and three kids, their dog, and two cats. She spends most days writing and making art in her studio above her family’s coffee shop.

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