While You Were Sleeping
written and illustrated by Briana Corr Scott
Nimbus Publishing, 2023
ISBN 978-1-77471-205-4 (hc)
$22.95, 30 pp., ages 5 – 7
nimbus.ca
From making lunches, doing laundry and household chores, to finishing degrees, this colourful picture book highlights many of the activities that dedicated parents do while their children are sleeping. The book begins in a single house, with the parents setting up a nursery for a newborn while he is sleeping. From there, the story zooms out into the world, where we see the activities of a diverse range of caregivers going about their daily lives. The book ends with a return to the first family and the realization that the baby has grown, left home, and is sleeping in an adult bed at his own place.
Classroom Connections: This is a lyrical book that is fun to read aloud. The rhyming words and the repetition of the phrase “while you were sleeping” create a distinct rhythm that might make this a good shared reading activity for primary students. The various daily routines and the wide range of identities found in the family groups provide many opportunities for students to make connections. Other reading comprehension strategies that could apply to this book are questioning and predicting.
Review by Brenda Boreham.
This review is featured in Canadian Teacher Magazine’s Fall 2024 issue.
