Before I Wake Up

by Britta Teckentrup

Created by the world-renowned children's
author and illustrator Britta Teckentrup,
this dreamy, colorful nighttime journey
will captivate and soothe young children
everywhere. A young girl falls asleep and travels in her dreams through
the sky, down to the ocean's depths, and into a jungle. She is
accompanied by a lion friend, who eases her fears, gives her
confidence, and helps her explore the world around her. Along
the way she meets whales, jellyfish, grizzly bears and wolves.
Then it is time for the moon balloon to take the girl home to
her bed, where she awakes, snuggled safely next to the lion,
who returns to being a stuffed toy. Award-winning children's
illustrator Britta Teckentrup's collage-like artwork creates a
magical world of captivating colors, classic shapes, and softly
detailed textures. The gently told story reassures children
that they are never alone, even in their dreams. Exquisitely
produced, this book is certain to become a pre-bedtime
favorite for children and their parents.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Fantasy, Storytime, Animals, Adventure

56 pages, Hardcover

First published February 29, 2016

About the author

Britta Teckentrup was born in Germany and moved to England in 1988. She is the author and illustrator of many books for children. She now lives in Berlin with her husband and young son.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is all a dream in this story. We see a girl in her dreams with a lion as a companion. She goes on adventures. The text is a simple rhyme. By the end of the book, the girl knows she is about to wake up and we she her make her way back to her bed before she wakes.

It’s a lovely exploration of what happens in our dreams. The artwork and watercolors were beautiful here and I love the rhymes. This is a mood, more for the imagination, the creative side of the brain. Something happens over there.

The nephew read this with me. He enjoyed seeing the lion on the pages and when the girl was a seal with the giant whale. It doesn’t have real action, but things happen and somehow this didn’t bore him enough to call it boring. He thought it was good. He gave it 3 stars.

[Earl · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of those gorgeous picture books that would probably have worked better as a wordless one. The concept is sweet and charming.

[Brandi Kutz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written in couplets, with almost a sing-song rhythm, this book takes us on a journey with our protagonist and her best friend the lion through her dreams. She meets wild creatures, swims with whales, and sails with the wind. The illustrations are almost paper mache and are darkly overlaid. It's a precious book for kids for bedtime.

[Ammie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely.

[Starbubbles · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was beautifully written, but the art was literally very dark throughout most of it. I feel that if you were to read it to a child about to go to sleep, and you had a regular to a dim light on, you would have missed most of the details in the images. I understand it was to represent nighttime and dreams, but I feel that there are ways to represent that and still be able to see all of the obvious hard work that went into this. The art was creative and imaginative, but I could see some children finding it creepy. This was not one of my favorite children's books.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of this book (helping children to see that night isn't something to fear, but a time to nurture your imagination in dreamland) and the illustrations. Where it fell flat for me was the rather trite rhyming. It's worth reading for the illustrations alone, but adult readers are likely to groan at some of the writing.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really nice illustrations. Very pretty, with a nice use of overlapping color. It seems to be about a child who dreams that her stuffed animal comes to life and travels with her. It's a little too subtle for its intended audience, I think, but it's a nice bedtime story.

[Briony · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illustrations and text are beautiful. However, I believe it would appeal more to the adult audience than the child audience.

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

A girl tells a story of adventure through her dream with great rhyming verses. The illustrations are dark to enhance the nighttime setting.

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a gorgeous art book disguised as a children's book.

[Taylor Kundel-Gower · Rating 3 out of 5]

Really neat illustrations, but was kind of boring.

[Melody · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book I loved it so much. I plan on gifting this title.

[Aisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a beautiful book.

[Mindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The sweet simple rhyme coupled with the lovely illustrations make Before I Wake Up an excellent bedtime story.

[LtLEGOReads · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is about a young girl's dream journey where she goes all over and try out different activities with her friends, the lion.

Beautiful illustration though!

[Elvira · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautiful illustrations and relaxing poetry. Only complaint is the text is small and hard to read, especially at bedtime.

[Heydi Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very atmospheric and poetic. A sweet bedtime story.

[Seema Rao · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young girl's vivid, enchanting dreams are shown in muted, magical collages-style illustrations.

[Eriska · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I Wake Up by Britta Teckentrup. Beautiful book with relaxing poetic text [very typical Teckentrup] very suitable for children bedtime.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely illustrations in this dreamy nighttime book.

[Lindsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

The illustrations are beautiful.

[Rachel Meagher · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love the overlapping, collage-y artwork in this

[Kat · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was disappointed in this book. The pictures were dark and hard to see and the rhyming scheme would disappear, or wouldn’t actually rhyme, sometimes.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

According to my Goodreads account this is the 26th title I have read that Britta Techentrup has written and illustrated or illustrated. I have loved her work since I first encountered it about sixteen years ago.
In my personal opinion many many children’s book illustrators are artists that are overlooked in the art world and their works are not exhibited among artists who do not work in the children’s book field.
When I started to read this title and look at the illustrations I was struck by the fact that Techentrup’s work belongs with the art world in general and not just in children’s book illustration. These illustrations
each tell a visual story on their own without the rhyming couplets that do accompany the illustrations as text. Prestel, a European art book publisher, published this in 2016.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't your typical children's picture book. The art is unique. Its all about a girl and her dreams while she is asleep at night. Some books that talk about nightime dreams kind of seem jumbled up and its hard to know what the child is dreaming or experiencing in real life. Over all I liked this book and would hope to get a personal copy. I'm enjoying borrowing stacks of book from my local library this summer. I love discovering new writers and illustrators!

[Amanda (barefootmamabookworm) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a simple story, but the artwork is nothing less than beautiful.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love books about dreaming.

[Deidra Chamberlain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Impossible not to sing this as a sort of Ingrid Michaelson style pop song. It’s fun.

[Chris]

This is a quiet, simple rhyming story about a little girl who takes comfort from her toy lion as she goes through her nightly dreams. She doesn't seem afraid to start with, so it's not really about overcoming a fear of the dark, it's simply about the comfort that a favorite toy can provide when confronting new situations.