Oct 2, 2006 3 min read

Did you ever watch a small child fight sleep?

Those little eyes ease shut ever-so-sloooooowly. Tiny hands and shoulders droop. That little head nods and….. Oops, she’s not sleeping, not really, not yet. And finally, it’s lights-out for awhile, despite the ferocious battle against the Sandman. Don’t you wish someone would come along and make you take a nap?

Kids might not fight sleep so much if they knew that they were absolutely safe, tucked in their beds. In the new book “While You Are Sleeping” by Alexis Deacon, they’ll see that they’re not at all alone at night.

All day long, your bedside toys sit near your mattress, still and quiet. You probably don’t think about them much during the day when you’re playing with something else, but as soon as the blankets are tucked under your chin and you’re snuggled warm in your bed, as soon as you’re positively fast asleep, your bedside toys go to work and watch over you each night.

As quiet as can be, the bedside toys check your bedroom from corner to corner. They look in every cabinet, shelf, and toy chest. They peer behind the curtains and – if they’re feeling particularly brave – they even check under the bed to make sure there’s nothing there to wake you.

If you’re too hot or too cold or too sick, they try to make you comfortable. They keep away all the bad dreams. No matter what, your bedside toys make sure you’re safe all night long.

Then, just before it’s time for you to get up in the morning, your toys go back to their spot next to your bed and they rest, so they can watch over you another night.

And why do they do it? Well, it’s because they love you, that’s why.

Oh, I have two minds about this book.

“While You Are Sleeping” is a picture book, meant to be read aloud. For older kids – maybe kindergarten to second or even third grade – this is going to charm the socks off them. The pictures are sweet (check out the vamping sock monkey!) and there’s just enough going on in the illustrations to make kids want to see this book over and over again. It’s comforting to see even the smallest toy work to care for the little girl who loves it, and that’s going to make older kids feel very secure at night. For those reasons, I liked this book a lot.

On the other hand, I think that the littlest kids – children under 4, perhaps – might be terrified by the thought of sentient toys and playthings that come alive at night. Some of the illustrations could be a little frightening, too. Tiny children with a big imagination and a not-so-big grasp on reality might not find this one bit comforting.

With that in mind, put on your jammies. Grab your teddy. Skooch under the blankets and tuck this book in bed with your (older) kids. “While You Are Sleeping” could be the start of many sweet dreams.