Book Description
for While You Are Sleeping by Durga Bernhard
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
Author/illustrator Durga Bernhard explores the concept of time zones through this colorful and interactive lift-the-flap book. Describing daily activities—getting dressed, dozing, washing, climbing a tree, watching the sun rise, reading at bedtime and going to sleep—Bernhard compares what children in countries around the world are doing at the same moment. “While you are carrying, someone is walking home with a friend.” This statement spanning a page spread is accompanied by a large circular image of a child in Nigeria at 9 a.m. carrying bread and fruit in her arms, while a smaller circular flap illustration shows two children walking down a road in Japan. Lifting the flap reveals a close-up of the two Japanese children and a clock showing the time in Japan: 5 p.m. Maps clearly identify each country in which the children live. The second country on each spread becomes the first country on the subsequent one, so that the narrative is linked from one place—and child—to the next. This circularity, represented both visually and textually, imparts a logical sequence to the narrative, with a beginning and end at bedtime in Alaska. Bernhard’s vibrant illustrations connect children from around the world in this engaging read-aloud. (Ages 3–6)
CCBC Choices 2012. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2012. Used with permission.