My Parents Think I'm Sleeping

Bibliographic Information
Prelutsky, Jack. 1985. MY PARENTS THINK I’M SLEEPING. Illus. by Yossi Abolafia. Greenwillow Books. New York, NY. ISBN 0688040187.

Plot
This collection of fourteen poems is a wonderful array of musings about night time from a child’s perspective. Yossi Abolafia’s drawings capture the wit, the wisdom, and the timelessness of such situations as reading under the covers with a flashlight, wondering where the color from things goes at night, and reassuring oneself that a monster can go away if you turn on the light. Prelutsky’s style of verse lends itself charmingly to the fears that night can bring into the overactive mind of a child, and Abolafia’s pencil drawings add an extra layer of humor that children will find especially satisfying. To see this, read the poems Chocolate Cake, Tonight is Impossibly Noisy, and Rain to see how both artists compliment one another’s work. Offering a variety of poems about monsters, shadows, stars, and not falling asleep, this would be a wonderful tool for parents, librarians, and early child care providers about human response to the change of day into night.

Critical Analysis
After doing a bit of research because I was curious as to why Prelutsky stuck with his specific stanza style of rhyming poetry, I learned he actually studied to be an opera singer. Hence the reason for the rhythmic style in his poems. The language Prelutsky uses is simply perfect for young readers—it is as if he was able to transport himself back to his own year as age seven to write these poems. Such phrases as ‘model rocket kit,’ ‘out of tune elephant orchestra,’ and ‘I’d fill the air with roars’ delight imaginations and stir the imagination to bring these images to life. Naturally, the majority of emotion many children face is in regards to fearing a monster at night. However, Prelutsky also ponders the quiet dream land and peace also associated with evening. This is a fantastic book of poetry because it validates fears and possible questions a child may face in a light-hearted way. It is satisfying to adults, too, who once in a while still ponder about spooky shadows and neighborhood noises, and makes one realize these are universal experiences to human beings of all cultures, religions, and ages.

Review Excerpts
Kirkus-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.

School Library Journal
Prelutsky turns his rollicking poetry talents to the problems and thoughts of bedtime. Unlike his Nightmares (Greenwillow, 1976), the night visions in these 14 poems are lighthearted rather than scary. “A Spooky Sort of Shadow” is really just a brush and a comb; the monster in “When I’m Very Nearly Sleeping” can be frightened away by a bedside light. Abolafia’s drawings, accompanying each poem, reinforce the book’s domestic, comfortable tone. A literary dessert for collections that, like the narrator of the poem “Chocolate Cake” have “got an empty space.”

Connections
Instead of reading this entire book at once use specific poems to tie-in with other picture books.
Read the poem “When I’m Very Nearly Sleeping” and introduce the picture book WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE ISBN 0060254920
Read the poem “I’m Awake! I’m Awake!” and introduce the picture book GOOD NIGHT, MOON ISBN 0060775858
Read the poem “A Million Candles” and introduce the picture book MANY MOONS ISBN 015251872X
Read the poem “Tonight is Impossibly Noisy” and introduce the picture book JUMANJI ISBN 0395304482