Awake, Asleep

by Kyle Lukoff, Nadia Alam (Illustrator)

Overview

A rhythmic, meditative read-aloud about the extraordinary beauty found in babies' and toddlers' everyday moments, written by Stonewall and Newbery-Award winning author, Kyle Lukoff.

A kiss, a blink, a dawn, a break.

A yawn, a peep, a stretch, awake!

From sunup to sundown, a young child’s day is bursting with discovery and wonder-filled moments. Follow a day in the life of three diverse families and their little ones, as everyday moments like sharing breakfast and exploring the park are rendered full of love, exploration, joy, and wonder. Sparse, beautiful rhyming text from Newbery and Stonewall Award-winning author Kyle Lukoff is a rhythmic and poetic read-aloud perfect for any time of day, paired against luminous, tender illustrations from artist Nadia Alam.

Showcasing a diverse range of kids, and families that include same-sex parents, single parents, and multigenerational households, Awake, Asleep reflects our world with beauty and joy, rendering the simple moments in a young child’s day as transformative, wonder-filled memories.

Perfect for bedtime cuddles and cozy storytime all day long, this book is a modern classic in the making that's a must-have on your little one's bookshelf.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781338883565
Publisher:	Scholastic, Inc.
Publication date:	05/16/2023
Sold by:	Scholastic, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	26 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	3 - 5 Years

About the Author

Kyle Lukoff is a National Book Award finalist and the Newbery and Stonewall Award-winning author of multiple books for young readers, including When Aidan Became a Brother, Call Me Max, and Too Bright to See. Kyle spent eight years as an elementary school librarian, but now he writes full time, assists in sensitivity readings and consultations, and presents on children’s and youth literature all across the country. He got hired at a bookstore when he was sixteen, which means he’s been working at the intersection of books and people for well over half his life. He lives in Philadelphia. Visit him online at kylelukoff.com.
Nadia Alam is an illustrator, and first generation Bangladeshi-Canadian. She is an avid daydreamer and meanderer who draws to capture the world as she sees it. Awake, Asleep is her first picture book. She lives in Toronto with her husband, two lovely kids, and a dog named Momo. Visit her online at nadiaalamillustration.com.

Editorial Reviews

03/13/2023

Via simple, largely monosyllabic words strung together into gently bouncing lines, Lukoff (If You’re a Kid Like Gavin) follows three families with young children through a single day, from sun-up to slumber. “A kiss, a blink, a dawn, a break,” text begins, as waking children are seen through different residence windows, wooded slopes and a city beyond lit by the rising sun. Families of various configurations and skin tones greet the day: some tend a baby (“a sniff, a stink, a change”); a bearded, tattoo-sporting caregiver pulls on pink sneakers as the child beside them dons a smaller pair (“a dress, a pink”). The groups amble toward a playground as the children spot small signs of wildlife (“a land,/ a slow,// a stalk”). Help appears across the generations (“A reach,/ a hand,/ a rise,/ a stand”), as does comfort when problems arise. In loose, digitally finished, gently tinted vignettes, debut illustrator Alam envisions a community that offers all its members security and love in this sedate ode to ordinary days that ends with “a kiss, a blink, a night,// asleep.” Ages 3–5. Author’s agent: Saba Sulaiman, Talcott Notch Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (May)

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/29/2023

PreS—Gentle narration with a reliable rhythm and sturdy rhyme lightly relates the happenings of an average day. Wake up. Eat breakfast. Take a walk. Play. Study. Learn. Grow. Take a bath, and back to bed. Every page or two comprises only eight words—"A kiss, a blink, a dawn, a break./ A yawn, a peep, a stretch, awake!" Lukoff's text is brilliant in its simplicity, accompanied by Alam's warm digital illustrations. Myriad people young and old are observed doing daily activities; the book has a few families representing multiracial, multigenerational, non-nuclear combinations. The beginning and ending cleverly show the same scenes in reverse, as the sun rises with hope and then sets on this lovely tale, to be repeated again and again. VERDICT A must-have for any collection, and perfect for classroom naptime, read-alouds, baby story hours, or toddler bedtimes.—Chance Lee Joyner

School Library Journal

★ 2023-04-12
From dawn to bedtime, loving glimpses of children living through an ordinary day.

Writing almost entirely in rhyming, sonorous sequences of simple nouns, Lukoff begins with sunrise—“A kiss, a blink, a dawn, / a break. // A yawn, / a peep, / a stretch, / awake!”—and goes on to caption cozy digital paintings of three young suburban child neighbors stirring out of bed, dressing and eating, walking out with parents to a playground…then at day’s end coming back home for a bath, a meal, a book, and finally bed. Realistically, the outing has its emotional downs as well as ups, as a broken toy and other mishaps lead to “a lap” for one child, “a nap” for another, and, following a tantrum, a calming bath for a third. Alam depicts a cast diverse of age, race, and family composition, including among the last a child and a baby sibling with two male-presenting parents (brown skinned, in different shades) and a live-in elder. From first light to moonlit final scene, each moment of this domestic round glows with feelings of warmth and safety. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

Soothing, familiar, and perfect for reading at bedtime—or any other time. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews