While You Sleep
Written by Jennifer Maruno
Illustrated by Miki Sato
Pajama Press — Fall 2022
From 2 to 5 | 24 pages
Breathtaking collage art and exquisite rhyming couplets showcase fantastical dreams as the natural world is prepared for a new day in this gentle bedtime book.
As the day ends and a little girl is put to sleep by her mother, night-helper bunnies work their magic to tidy and polish the world. These helpers paint flowers, dust butterflies, and charge rainbows to make the world a beautiful place to wake up to.
★ “A peek into the busy Land of Nod….Maruno narrates in flawless and immersive rhyming verse….Readers will linger over each tiny, essential detail—nothing is extraneous….the text and art are expertly stitched together, each visible and impactful on their own and interwoven into a bewitching whole. A perfect bedtime selection for eye-catching, vibrantly colorful dreams.”
— Kirkus, STARRED REVIEW
★ “[I]nspired and original….While You Sleep casts a magic spell that will help lull little ones to sleep, and might just nudge a sleepy grown-up in that direction, too.”
— Quill & Quire, STARRED REVIEW
“This lovely picture book shows what one parent tells her little one as she’s going to sleep. The text is written in peaceful rhyming couplets, while warmly colored collage illustrations show the tidying up that goes on while people rest…. It’s a cozy, positive bedtime story sure to please parents and children alike.”
— School Library Journal
“In rhyming couplets, a caregiver encourages a child…to embrace bedtime so that a crew of bunny helpmeets can begin their work tidying up the world… the textured scenes remix details from the child’s waking life into suitably snuggly dreamscapes.”
— Publishers Weekly
“The dreamy, lyrical couplets pair beautifully with the enchanting, lushly layered illustrations….There’s much to engage and charm in this whimsical, sweet, and reassuring bedtime read.”
— Booklist
“Rhyming couplets create a whimsical melody while the collage art illustrations will captivate children with their colorful layers and textures—until they drift off to sleep to dream of the brand new world they’ll wake up to.”
— Foreword Reviews