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“When the sky grows dark
And the moon glows bright,
Everyone goes to sleep…
…except for the watchful owl.”
The nocturnal owl acts as a tour guide to the animal kingdom at rest, showing us all sorts of sleeping animals: quiet pandas and noisy elephants, solitary giraffes and cuddling penguins, horses that sleep standing up, and fish that sleep with their eyes open. As dawn breaks, all the animals wake up to a glorious new day, and now it’s the tired owl’s turn to sleep.
The spare text and gorgeous artwork in soothing shades of blue and green make Il Sung Na’s A Book of Sleep ideal for lulling a young child to sleep. The textured and intricate depictions of nature in ink and oil are so striking that I would love to see framed posters of the artwork offered for sale. The illustrations are truly what distinguish this book, turning what would otherwise be a pretty basic bedtime book into a work of art offering a glimpse into enchanted worlds on each page.
I said the book felt like a “modern classic” when I first reviewed the hardcover edition two years ago. I like the board book version even better because of the portability. This is a book that belongs on every baby and preschooler’s bookshelf.
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A Book of Sleep