In the Middle of the Night Poems from a Wide-Awake House

Toys, food, and other everyday household objects have wild adventures at night, while the humans in the house sleep, in this imaginative collection of 26 poems.

What do the things in your home do when you're asleep? They play, of course! In this compendium of poems by Laura Purdie Salas, everything from stuffed animals to clothing to writing utensils comes to life under the cover of night. An overdue library book searches for the perfect place to hide. A paper clip skydives with a tissue parachute. A fruit snack unrolls to create a tricky racetrack for toy cars. A hose unwinds and rolls around the yard before curling back up just before dawn. Accompanied by Angela Matteson's beautiful acrylic-on-wood illustrations, this book will spark young readers' imaginations and is a perfect choice for bedtime reading.

Laura Purdie Salas is the author of more than 125 books for children, including If You Were the Moon, the award winning Can Be . . . series, and BookSpeak! Poems About Books, which was an NCTE Notable Book of Poetry and won the Nerdy Book Award for Poetry, among other honors. She lives with her family in Plymouth, Minnesota. Visit her at laurasalas.com.

Angela Matteson is the illustrator of Grumbles from the Town by Jane Yolen and Rebecca Kai Dotlich. She works as a Marketing Director and food packaging designer. She enjoys showing her paintings in galleries and lives in Columbus, Ohio. Visit her at angelamattesonart.com.