In this beautifully lyrical bedtime picture book, young readers will be whisked to a land where mermaids sleep and pirates snore; where fairies slumber on flower petals and a giant's sleepy sighs make the valleys rumble. Featuring dream-like illustrations by Society of Illustrators Gold Medal recipients Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, When Mermaids Sleep is an ideal addition to the bedtime canon.

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Reviews:

 

"Rhythmic lines will lull youngsters who are fully immersed in fairy-tale lore into a dreamy state...Youngsters are sure to carry these images into their dreams."—Kirkus Reviews 

 

"In a distinctive twist on the going-to-bed theme, Bonwill (I Don’t Want to be a Pea!) promises that the creatures of fairy tales and storybooks go to sleep just as children do. The verse holds few surprises, but it’s sturdy and evocative: “When mermaids sleep in oceans deep/ inside their coral caves,/ they lay their heads on seaweed beds,/ rocked softly by the waves,” she begins, as Johnson and Fancher (One Frozen Lake) offer a spread of two mermaids slumbering on a bed of coral, splashed with vivid pinks, limes, and lavenders that pop against the midnight blue of the ocean. Further on, pirates sleep against the gunwales of their ship, a mother and baby unicorn doze in a forest carpeted with light blue and pink leaves, and faeries sleep curled up in flower blossoms, bathed in moonlight." —Publishers Weekly

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"If I could give this book more than 5 stars, I would. Colorful, dreamlike illustrations draw the reader in. Lovely poetic prose creates a soothing cadence for a bedtime story. And the weaving in of magical creatures all across the world is masterfully done. I imagine if Tolkien had tried his hand at a child's bedtime story, it might have looked something like this. Lush, magical, beautiful, and brilliant--WHEN MERMAIDS SLEEP is destined to become a bedtime classic." —CJ Redwine, Kids Books Central