While You Were Sleeping [Board book]

John Butler (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 2 and up

While you were sleeping one deep, dark night...one tiger went hunting in the jungle, two mice made a warm, cosy nest in the hay, three bears played chase in the snow ...In this stunningly illustrated book with its lyrical text, you are taken gently through the night to see and count all kinds of animals in their natural environments.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One more bedtime counting book will soothe readers and inspire dreams. While You Were Sleeping by John Butler tells young children that "One tiger went hunting in the jungle" and "Four baby owls sat wide-eyed in an old oak tree." All 10 animals appear realistically painted in their natural settings.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

PreSchool-When Daisy's mother greets her in the morning, she says, "...the animals that were awake last night have gone to bed now." Daisy asks what they were doing, and what follows is a counting book of night creatures: "while you were sleeping, one tiger went hunting in the jungle...two mice made a warm, cozy nest in the hay." The text is on glossy double-page spreads that feature bears, owls, dolphins, deer, geese, rabbits, elephants, and, finally, 10 penguins that "jumped out of the icy sea...to join one hundred friends." The final spread invites readers to find 10 penguins in Daisy's room. The story and illustrations are sweet but bland.
Carolyn Jenks, First Parish Unitarian Church, Portland, ME
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 2 and up
  
• Board book: 24 pages
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1561452548
• ISBN-13: 978-1561452545
• Product Dimensions: 5.7 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #755,501 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars While we sleep, someone else is playing!, April 26, 2005

By 

KSL "emma-and-me" (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: While You Were Sleeping (Hardcover)

I first got the board book version of this book for my daugther & really fell in love with both the story and the artwork! A few months later I happened to read a review where the person said there was a difference between the Hard cover and Board book version. So... I decided to also purchase the book in Hardcover as well.

Now that I have both side by side, in my eyes here is the difference between the 2 books. The Hardcover starts with a little girl being awoken by her mother in the morning, and while the girl is waking up her mother begins to talk about how all the animals that where awake last night while she was sleeping are now all sleeping, whiles she is now awake. From those 3 pages the books are both the same.... and then the hard back has 5 more pages at the end that the Board book does not.

I know that board books are small for small listeners with short attention spans, so I think the publishers choose to shorten a few pages that really do not matter if they are deleted from the book. The board book still stands alone as just as awesome without those 8 pages some of which are illustrations.

I use the board book at night before bed to show her that the world is big and while she is sleeping others are awake and so forth. The board book begins with the outline of a home against a stary, stary night. While I plan to use the hard cover book when I introduce her to it one morning or afternoon. Both books are illustrated so beautifully and it still to me is such a neat process that while we sleep, someone in the world is playing!

I have also seen this done in the "Family of the Earth" Books as well.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable and fun book., June 17, 2003

By 

Brenda Thomas (Little Rock, AR) - See all my reviews

This review is from: While You Were Sleeping (Board book)

My daughter received the large paper book for her 1st Christmas and loved it so much that it wore out and had to be discarded. She recently received the card board book for her 3 year birthday but it was a little disapointing because it didn't have the beginning page with Daisy's mother talking to her in bed and doesn't have the last pages with the 10 penguins joining 100 friends and with Daisy's room where you try to find the 10 penguins, which is what my daughter had especially enjoyed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous New Children's Book, October 21, 2004

By 

Erika Sorocco (Southern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: While You Were Sleeping (Board book)

John Butler's WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING, captures the essence of what animals do at night while a young child is tucked safely in his/her bed, soundly asleep. Ten different animals are featured throughout the pages of the book, including mice, tigers, penguins, and more. The lyrical prose will have very young children drifting off to sleep before the story is done, while at the same time will keep them dreaming about the lovely illustrations and animals contained throughout the story. A lovely bedtime book for all children, especially those who are under the age of 5.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper