My Parents Think I'm Sleeping - Softcover

Jack Prelutsky; Yossi Abolafia

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0688140289 ISBN 13: 9780688140281

Publisher: Eos, 1995

Synopsis

What do you do when you're in bed and the lights are out but you still can't sleep? One boy finds plenty to keep him busy. First, he reads a little-under the covers with a flashlight, of course. Then, he sneaks into the kitchen for a piece of chocolate cake. Later, he listens to the rain and watches the nighttime shadows. What do you do when you're awake when you should be asleep? Maybe you could be reading this book!

About this title

Review:

First published as a Greenwillow stand-alone in 1985, this welcome I Can Read entry features Abolafia's updated, full-color illustrations for Prelutsky's 14 poetic explorations of the not-too-scary night. Prelutsky engages the reader conspiratorially by leading with the title poem, for which the artist supplies the resourceful brown-haired narrator with flash-lit books and model rocket parts, substituting an electronic game gadget for the earlier transistor radio. The pictures provide some amusing extensions. The lad dreamily plans his nighttime snack attack in "Chocolate Cake:" "I will slip into the kitchen/ without any noise or light, / and if I'm really careful, / I will have that cake tonight." In the facing picture, he catches his like-minded dad with cake in hand, cheeks bulging. The poems focus on gentle, philosophical musings about day, night, sun and sky, and the boy's mastery of his own nighttime fears is a developmentally appropriate touch. A nicely repackaged addition to a genre much needed within the easy-reader realm: poetry. (Easy reader. 5-8) (Kirkus Reviews)

From the Back Cover:

From reading under the covers to watching shadows dance on the wall, these fourteen vigorous verses show that a child's life begins at bedtime!

About this edition

• Publisher: Eos
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0688140289
• ISBN 13: 9780688140281
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 48