Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?

by Brianna Caplan Sayres, Christian Slade (Illustrator)

Truck-obsessed toddlers will want to make the diggers, tractors, fire engines, and more featured in this fun-filled construction tale part of their nightly bedtime routines!
 
Discover what bedtime looks like for the snowplows, dump trucks, giant cranes, and more that dot the pages of this irresistible construction story. Just like you and me, the vehicles in this story get tuckered out after a long day of hard work and need to quiet down and settle in for sweet dreams. Young readers will surely identify as these trucks ask for  one more story  while their parents sing them a goodnight song and send them off to bed.
 
With a sweet rhyme scheme and an illustration style that’s perfect for nighttime rituals, Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night? and its things-that-go companions— Where Do Steam Trains Sleep At Night? , Where Do Jet Planes Sleep At Night? , Where Do Speedboats Sleep at Night? , and Where Do Diggers Celebrate Christmas? —will leave vehicle-loving kids snuggled up and satisfied.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Trucks, Transport, Storytime, Construction, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

About the author

Brianna Caplan Sayres used to tell her second graders, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a writer." "But you are grown up, Mrs. Sayres," her students would protest. Well, Brianna is still not sure she's grown up, but she has grown into a writer. Her debut picture book, "Where Do Diggers Sleep at Night?" was published by Random House, and her upcoming picture book, "Tiara Saurus Rex," will soon be published by Bloomsbury. Brianna has recently returned to her hometown, Seattle, Washington, where she and her husband are kept busy by their two wonderful boys. You can visit Brianna on the web at www.briannacaplansayres.com or at facebook.com/authorbrianna.

Reviews

[Emily May · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm surprised this one has so few ratings compared to Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site. I thought it was a much more enjoyable book with better rhymes and cuter illustrations. My kid liked both, but it's this one he always asks for.

Update Oct 2019: I take it back, actually. I think it requires repeated readings to appreciate Goodnight, Goodnight, Construction Site as the better book. Or it did for me, at least. This one is more immediately catchy. The repetition is sing-song and appealing. But after reading it for the fiftieth time it becomes tiresome, too. GGCS has an actual story and the rhymes are more clever overall, I think.

[Khari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pretty darn cute.

It could be just that an emotional song was playing while I read this, but I thought it was adorable and it made me smile and get all sad that my nephew is a teenager now and wouldn't appreciate snuggling up in my lap and having me read this to him anymore. He would have loved it as a kid.

It's little poems about going to sleep where the author is imagining anthropomorphized trucks parents and children doing little things like being tucked in, picking up toys, snuggling up with teddy bears and what have you. They were cute and fairly clever, a couple made me laugh out loud. The parents would get the humor while it would be opaque to kids.

All in all, a good book. I enjoyed it.

Story: Procedural-poems, with a bit of dictionary thrown in.
Art: Cute
Price: 7.99

[James Hoffman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Weird name but good.

[David H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is fantastic: great rhythms, fun images, and that special something that makes my son want to read it multiple times a day every day from anyone he can reach (whether he knows them or not). I will say that the monster truck page is a bit horrifying when you realize that regular cars are also sentient in this universe, not just heavy duty vehicles.

[Ben Shifflett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m concerned on where the cars the monster trucks are crushing come from. Are these the same cars the “car transporters” are carrying. Some say those cars look sleepy, I say they look drugged. Are they sacrificing these vehicles to be crushed to death by the “monster” (satan) trucks?

Other than that a great book, my son loves it!

[Jim Huss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every page kept me at the edge of my seat. With an ending that I would have never expected, but looking back it was right there in front of me!

[Jack De La Mare · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hard to read. Doesn’t make sense. Also kind of funny though.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Inferior to "Goodnight Goodnight Construction Site" in both story and illustrations. Still, okay for the kiddos who really love trucks and want another truck-based bedtime story. This one goes beyond construction equipment and includes other types of vehicles.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun board book with nice rhymes (which I love!) and bold, detailed illustrations. This would be a great choice for children who are fascinated by trucks (and a lot of them are), and also a great bedtime book since the trucks are all going to sleep. Clever and creative!

First read: 8/26/15

[Kate Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

We got this from Dolly Parton’s Library, which we love! I rated this 4 instead of 5 stars mostly because all of the rhetorical questions make it hard to get through with the 2-year old recipient insisting that they sleep “in the moon!” Cute illustrations!

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

3/10/2025 - Very sweet bedtime story. My daughter loves construction vehicles, so this kept her attention.

[Courtney Etheridge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me and the small man loved this one. Very cute story and good illustrations. Would recommend.

[Ellen Spes · Rating 4 out of 5]

my greatgrandson loves this book.

[Stephen]

file this under kids books that ask eternally relevant questions

[Jack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sometimes my trucks sleep in bed with me if my poppa doesn’t find out! Great bedtime book.

[Jessica Calaway · Rating 3 out of 5]

2 - 3 years

[Libby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honestly helpful for me. Malachi is obsessed with cars and I’ve been calling everything a truck or tractor. How ignorant I am it seems.

[Angie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is Crue’s favorite book. We read it so many times that after a while when we would go to the bookshelf to pick some books out to read he would pull it out, smile and chuckle and then put it back-almost like it’s one of his favorites and he wants to keep it that way and not get sick of it! 😂😍 Such a cute book and love the illustrations!

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

My 3yr old loves this book.
He requests it every night as the last book we read.

Where do;
Diggers, dump trucks, garbage trucks, monster trucks, fire trucks, tow trucks, car carriers, cranes, tractors, semi trucks, and your trucks, sleep at night?

[Bethe · Rating 3 out of 5]

rhyming text about all sorts of trucks and their bedtime routines, some rhymes flow better than others, love the little truck tucked under a tarp with his teddy bear.

[Marieke · Rating 5 out of 5]

Although the boy can be slow to warm to new books, he loved this one immediately. He loves pointing out all the baby trucks and also naming all the sleeping creatures on the last page.

[Salvador Zarate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought the book was a very entertaining book to read. The premise of the book was trying to find an understanding of where automobiles go when they sleep. As the reader, you do not get to see whose perspective you are reading but I think that is the format of most children's books, the reason for that is most likely because these are stories for kids who really can't focus on character development and only on what the book is trying to illustrate. I do think the wording could've been less jumbled into a sentence, which could be pretty confusing for a child reading or being read to. Overall I thought the book was very playful with the words used and it had similar rhyme schemes comparable to some of Dr. Suess work. I really did enjoy the illustrations done by Christian Slade, his illustration made the book more wholesome and I find that to have more of an impact in a book that is meant to be an "easy read." I think this book will be very popular with boys ranging from 3-6 due to the addition of trucks/cars but it also brings a gentle side of something that isn't seen as very gentle.

[AFIFA ALAM RAISA · Rating 5 out of 5]

A marvelous picture book with rhyming content that features inquisitions as intriguing and wonderful as the curiosity of young children. As the title suggests, it is full of questions that are likely to pop up in a juvenile mind that has just begun to explore the wonders of the world.

The book can not only fuel the power of imagination but also familiarize the young kids with diverse vehicles and machines along with their purpose. In addition, the way the lines rhyme makes the book pleasant and enjoyable. At last but not least, the captivating illustrations are bound to win anyone’s heart.

[Shannon]

I can see how this would be a huge favorite for those kids who love construction vehicles. My daughter is ambivalent to all vehicles, so this doesn't interest her a whole bunch. It is cute--both words and pictures, and I like the ending where it brings it back to the child's own bedroom.

This was from Imagination Library. My daughter wouldn't read it for a long time because it smelled *really* strongly of printing ink, which is sometimes the case with Imagination Library but this was definitely the worst time.

[Ali Book&Seaglasshunter · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good bedtime story for lovers of trucks. This story imagines what a bedtime routine could be like for different types of trucks. It is a creative concept, but a few things detract from it for me. First the rhyme scheme used in the book is so bland and over relied on by authors who think kids books have to rhyme. It ends up with a lot of forced rhymes. Secondly the illustration style just doesn’t appeal to me and I find the illustrations a little creepy.

[Ashlyn Bingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fun bedtime story for my little boys! My kids always go to bed easier when we say goodnight to all their toys, items in the house, trees, animals outside, etc. This book helps children imagine how other species (even inanimate objects) might do their bedtime routine and how it might be similar to theirs. It rhymes so it’s fun for me to read too! Plus, I just saw that they have several books in the series and even a Christmas and Halloween version!

[Kelsey Nelson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I prefer the term excavator to digger as I don't like the idea that we need to simplify big words for children; So sometimes while reading I substitute it in and it doesn't throw off the cadence. That is my one major issue with the book, otherwise it is a great board book for littles with shorter attention spans.

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is so stinkin' cute with each of the construction vehicles having moms and dads and children who need to be tucked in at night. Each vehicle type has a unique bedtime routine to distinguish it from the rest and often showcases some aspect of it's configuration or function. As a bonus it is rhyming, which as a the person reading the book aloud I always find enjoyable.

[Berenice · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are beautiful, thoughtful and sweet. However the rhymes and text are terrible (regardless of British vs USA English differences). I feel inclined to give this book only three stars, but my 18 months old son and I love much the pictures and talk so much over them, that I give this book an extra star.

[Cheriee Weichel · Rating 5 out of 5]

What I think of this book is irrelevant.
When my son and his family were visiting with us last week, my 16 month granddaughter carried this around with her and climbed up on whatever lap was available to get it read it to her. It is obviously a hit for the target audience and it's actually fun to read out loud - even if it is over and over and over again.