Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by B. Sayers

Authors

  • Debbie Feisst

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20361/G2CC98

Abstract

Sayres, Brianna K. Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? Illus. Christian Slade.  New York: Random House, 2012. Print.

If the title Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? seems a tad familiar, well, it probably is.  In the same vein as the ultra-popular Good Night, Good Night, Construction Site, Diggers presents the sweet nighttime rituals of diggers, trucks and other heavy machinery.  At first I thought this was a simple effort to take advantage of a similar, bestselling title however Sayres’ work does indeed hold its own.

In this picture book aimed at ages 3-6, first time picture book author Sayres gives young heavy equipment aficionados a delightful take on the bedtime story.  In rhyming couplets and often in a humorous manner, all sorts of trucks, cranes and tractors get ready for rest under the watchful headlamps of their caregivers: “Where do garbage trucks sleep / when they’re done collecting trash? / Do their dads sniff their load and say, / ‘Pee-yew—time to take a bath’?”  Sure to get the young ones giggling.

The sleepy-eyed dozers and tow trucks eventually give way to an equally sleepy young boy in his cozy bed, with a reminder that the trucks will be waiting for him when he wakes.  Save for one naughty truck, winking, under the bed (my five-year-old happily pointed this out).

Though the illustrations by former Disney animator Christian Slade are rather cartoon-like and not realistic, they match the text well, are in soothing nighttime colours and allow for the trucks to have droopy eyes and smiling faces. Read in a lyrical fashion, or even as a song, this would be a nice end to any wee truck lover’s day.  This would make a nice addition to any public library or as a gift.

Reviewer: Debbie Feisst
Recommended: 3 stars out of 4

Debbie is a Public Services Librarian at the H.T. Coutts Education Library at the University of Alberta.  When not renovating, she enjoys travel, fitness and young adult fiction.

Author Biography

Debbie Feisst

Public Services Librarian

Published

2014-01-23

How to Cite

Feisst, D. (2014). Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? by B. Sayers. The Deakin Review of Children’s Literature, 3(3). https://doi.org/10.20361/G2CC98

Issue

Section

Book Reviews