When Everyone Was Fast Asleep

Fog Maiden #1

by Tomie dePaola

When everyone was fast asleep, the Fog Maiden sent a cat to carry two sleeping children off for a fantastical evening highlighted by a palace ball.

Genres: Picture Books, Fantasy, Childrens, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1976

About the author

Tomie dePaola (pronounced Tommy da-POW-la) was best known for his books for children.

He had a five-decade writing and illustrating career during which he published more than 270 books, including 26 Fairmount Avenue, Strega Nona, and Meet the Barkers.

Tomie dePaola and his work have been recognized with the Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbery Honor Award, the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award, and the New Hampshire Governor's Arts Award of Living Treasure.

Reviews

[Hannah Greendale (Hello, Bookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Everyone Was Fast Asleep is an enchanting dream sequence crafted with delightful prose. A gentle and lulling tale of fanciful creatures and goodnight kisses.

When everyone was fast asleep,
the Fog Maiden sent Token to wake us up.

And we slid
through the curtains
into the night.

We floated
across the grass,
dancing on the dew,
and met the elf horse.

[Mir · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sweet dream...

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pretty funky fantasy involving a large cat, fog maiden, elf horse, dwarves, and a play for a king and queen. Definitely not a story to use while teaching plot since the story doesn't entirely make sense. The illustrations are great. The fantasy is positive, but strange. I did like it even though I am having a really hard time explaining why.

[melita · Rating 4 out of 5]

my favorite book as a little one... i would sit and read it over and over again... now my nana has given it to me, along with a number of other books...

[Anne Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picture book of a "fog maiden" that carries the children to the palace for an evening.

[Beverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for a bedtime story for little ones. Nothing on the blurb or verso state that this edition is any different from the original 1976 edition. Illustrated in dePaola's signature style.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Who knows what happens when we sleep and when we dream. In this picture book, originally published in 1976, two children are awakened by Token, the beloved cat of the Fog Maiden, and taken on an adventure. They sing and dance and eat and even attend a royal ball. Instead of Token returning them to their beds, the Fog Maiden does so. It's pretty clear from the soft illustrations that the youngsters are either drowsy or asleep the whole time and may not remember a thing about what happens. There's an ethereal, magical feel to this picture book. Despite the exciting new places the children go, I felt at peace as I read it. I'm not entirely sure why or what the book even means other than it being a dream and an explanation for how and why we dream, but it made me feel calm and not anxious. I don't know if that would be the case for young readers, though.

[Great Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This Tomie dePaola book is very imaginative. You can just see it amazingly through the eyes of a child who is seemingly either dreaming or playing along as magical things happen when "the Fog Maiden sent Token" to wake them up! Out into the night, having slid through their own curtains, the children float across the grass, onto the dew, meeting the elf horse and dancing and singing their way through this charming tale of an enchanted land with gypsies, kings, queens, princesses in their palace ball and the animals that danced around them and appeared in their play.

This book is fun and entertaining with great illustrations and lots of imagination throughout!

Reviewer 1

[Teresa Bateman · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this literal flight of fancy two children are swept away by the Fog Maiden and float through the night to meet strange and unusual creatures, and sing and dance. Then end up back in their own beds, safe and cozy. The lovely, warm illustrations are traditional dePaola, with soft edges and colors. The repeated song will coax young listeners to join in. This is another winner from an amazing author/illustrator.

[Raven Black · Rating 4 out of 5]

More poetic than others by him. Less solid story, yet a good story about the magic of the night. Only issue is who is Token? This is never really explained outside of the fact it is a large, magical cat. The Fog Maiden image at the end perhaps the best part of the story. Though the fact the narrator are showing "magic" with everyday things.

[Ariel N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever had those dreams that pull you so far out from reality where nothing makes sense as your world has turned into a multiverse of everything you’ve interacted with or imagined, and gets to the point where it’s hard to snap back into the real world? No? Guess that’s just me, but let’s dive into a world that represents this exact scene.
Written by Tomie dePaola, a well-known and highly regarded children’s author known for his book ‘Strega Nona,’ ‘When Everyone Was Fast Asleep’ is a children’s fantasy book that follows two children across their dream and the activities they participate in throughout their magical journey. The two themes of this book are the blurred lines between reality and fiction and how it can impact our perspective of the both of them individually, and the fact that we can go on journeys without physically being there, whether in a dream or real life. I learned how chaotic and nonsensical other people’s dreams could be, and the possibility of someone else looking out for me in my dreams. This was a WOW book for me as I loved the entire dream sequence and the Fog Maiden’s look once her identity was revealed at the end.
As the story is on the shorter side, the author made sure to fit a few literary devices and other writing craft styles inside the condensed text. The use of symbolism can be seen with Token the cat, as it appears on every single page of the book. This device enhances the story as the cat can be interpreted as a guardian for the two children to protect them from any evil characters, nightmares, or anything else that could ruin their dream, or an omniscient entity that just observes dreams and can’t interact with anyone inside of it. Another literary device used is imagery, as seen in the sentence, “We floated across the grass, dancing on dew,” as humans can’t float in the air or dance on individual dew droplets in real life, but this sentence adds on to the dream’s rules established in the pages before it as anything can happen in a fantasy book. This book contains an anti-bias perspective by introducing the trolls as neutral characters instead of the stereotypical hostile opponents, who showed nothing but hospitality towards the children after they arrived.

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this idea of a Fog Maiden, that was cool. The whole story is like a surreal dream. Two kids journey for adventure in their dreams. It's this surreal piece. There is no character here. It's that hazy feeling one gets of a dream, only impressions of things.

I love the cool tones of the artwork. The whole story is working to put kids to sleep. I would be excited to visit sleep after this book.

I think this might be my favorite Tomie dePaola book yet.

This huge cat and the Fog Maiden, I love that.

[Clwseattle · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Everyone Was Fast Asleep is such as little dreams are made of, with its 32 fanciful pages of gentle tone and fantastical story of moons and trolls, princesses, and peacocks waltzing with doves.

[Zee · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun, fantastic story that's the perfect length for reading to a kid at bedtime and charming artwork - definitely a fun read.

[A. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Odd little story of a mist that whisks two children away during their dreams and returns them to bed after a night of revelry. Not quire sure who the audience is for this one.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a VERY enchanting story! One of my favorite dePaola books.

[Katelynne · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one funky fantasy novel. Trippy and cute, is a little outdated. Not dePaola’s greatest but still a fun bedtime read.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magical, enchanting bedtime reading.

[Slow Man · Rating 3 out of 5]

The style of story telling and the drawings goes hand in hand. Fog maiden and Token. Kids love to imagine to be up for adventures when the parents turn the lights out.

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is bizarre, but I like it.

[Michelle Crunkleton-Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed being pulled into the dream.

[Lara Bate · Rating 2 out of 5]

A book about two kids who went on an adventure and went to a play.

[DúviAurvandil Ericsson e Pereira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Too surreal to score higher, but still has the delightful dePaola illustrations and musical prose.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

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