A Sleepless Night

2024 Mildred L. Batchelder Honor Book

2025 USBBY Outstanding International Books

Little Elisa can’t stop crying and no one knows why. After a sleepless night, it takes a grandmother’s touch—and an explosive fart—to bring much-needed relief.

One night, little Elisa begins to cry. At first her crying resembles a cat’s meow. But it soon grows so loud that the flowers wilt and the birds fly out the window. We move her bed so she can see the moon, we wrap her up warm, cool her down, and tie a red ribbon to her wrist. But nothing works. We all wonder: Why is she crying?

After a long sleepless night, it takes a grandmother’s touch to finally find out. Elisa lets out a fart that sounds like a plane taking off in the middle of the living room, nine blenders whirring at full power, twenty-seven moaning hair dryers . . . An irreverent story about the wind that passes through us all, A Sleepless Night shows that seemingly complicated problems can have simpler solutions than we think.