Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that this simple little book tells a simple little story that is as gentle and soothing as its illustrations. Nothing objectionable is presented.
Families can talk about how the little girl must have felt when she could not fall asleep. What kept her awake? Have you ever felt like she did when she heard all her family snoring around her, but she was still wide awake? Why did she decide to sleep on the roof of her house? Have you ever slept outside, or wanted to? What would your parents do if they saw you carrying your blankets outside in the middle of the night? What do you think the mother is thinking about when she sits by her sleeping daughter up on the rooftop?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Patricia Tauzer
This is a smaller-than-usual picture book with illustrations that are soft and soothing, and a story that is calm, gentle, and a little different from the ordinary bedtime book. Kids will enjoy looking at the outlined watercolor drawings that create the friendly, almost magical world of the little girl who can't sleep. They will also enjoy hearing how she solves her own problem.
Children who live in the city may understand the world of the rooftop garden more than kids who live elsewhere. However, from the front cover on, Jonathan Bean paints a dreamy picture of this amazing world and the little girl who enjoys being there more than anywhere else in her apartment. It's easy to see why she would prefer to follow the breeze upstairs, away from her stuffy room, to a place where she can see the sky and breathe in the nighttime peace of the world that surrounds her. Kids will understand why she smiles as she snuggles down into the comfortable bed she has created, with her black cat at her feet and the moon overhead.
This pleasurable bedtime read for younger kids is the first picture book that Bean has both written and illustrated. He has also illustrated the work of several other authors, designed covers for Cricket Magazine, and worked for the New York Times.
From The Book
At night,
after her brother
and sister went to bed,
long after her parents whispered
"Good Night, happy dreams!"
and went to sleep,
she lay
in her dark room
AWAKE!
Plot Summary:
Unable to sleep, a young girl packs up her pillow and blanket and follows the breeze to the rooftop where she finds the perfect solution for sleeping in the city on a warm summer's night.
Related Books:
Other Soothing Bedtime Books:
I Love You Always and Forever by Jonathan Emmett
So Sleepy Story by Uri Shulevitz
Other Books Illustrated by Jonathon Bean:
Mokie and Bik by Wendy Orr
The Apple Pie That Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson
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