My Parents Think I'm Sleeping is a children's fictional poetry picture book about a young boy, approximately eight years old, who has a designated bedtime like any other child his age. His parents believe he is sleeping; however, in actuality he is “doing quite a lot,” as the flashlight kept under the sheets is quickly turned on once his parents leave the room. Reading and playing with his model rocket kit are only a few of his activities. His imagination goes into action, as “a monkey battalion is dancing as needles and pins,” along with the incredibly noisy night with “enraged dinosaurs” (Prelutsky, 1985).
Many of us can relate to the imagined world of “shadows dancing weirdly on the wall” in a form that is eerie, indistinguishable, and keeps us awake for hours. Additionally, as adults we were children at one time and may have had the same experience of an active imagination and sneaking into the kitchen during the night for a slice of cake. As a creative assignment, teachers could ask each child to draw a picture of themselves upon their bedtime. The image of their bedroom could also be included, along with any significant items in the bedroom. However, consideration should be taken for any students who do not have adequate housing facilities, as it may be embarrassing for a homeless student, for example, to have nothing to draw.
Reader Response and Questions for Discussion
1. Do you think the boy's parents know he does not quickly fall asleep and is awake for a while?
2. What are some of the activities that the boy does during the night?
The book was published in 1985,
before the era of vivid and new styles of picture book artwork which has arrived
in the past two decades. Some of the pictures cover the full page, while others
are half of a page. This poetry book would be enjoyable for a small group of
children in the early elementary grades, as each stanza has four lines, and two
of the four lines rhyme at the end. The words are simple yet descriptive. The
only setback are the pictures as they can only be observed close-up.
Jack Prelutsky is the author of The New Kid on the Block and many other popular books of humorous verse. His first children's book was A Gopher in the Garden and was published in 1967. "Since then, he has published over seventy books of poetry and in 2006 the Poetry Foundation designated Jack as the nation's first Children's Poet Laureate" (About Jack, N.d.)
Prelutsky, J, (1985). My Parents Think I'm Sleeping. New York: Greenwillow Books, Inc.
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