Young audience asked, ‘What would you do if you weren’t sleeping?’

MANASQUAN — What would you do if you weren’t sleeping? 

Manasquan Elementary School fourth-grade teacher and author Brianna Snel brought some ideas of adventure and exploration to an engaged crowd of tots at Manasquan Public Library during the presentation of her children’s book, “Sleeping is Boring!”

Whether it was gallivanting under the sea with mermaids, taking a rocket ship to outer space or climbing Earth’s tallest mountain – the story takes the reader on a series of adventures, all of which are more interesting than bedtime and sleeping to Isla, the book’s main character, who is based on Snel’s 6-year-old daughter. 

The story invited young attendees, who were split on whether or not they thought sleeping was boring, to daydream about the endless possibilities of what they would do if there were no such thing as bedtime. 

Snel said she was inspired to write a book after the elementary school hosted authors as part of the annual Read Across America campaign. The idea for the short story came from Snel’s oldest child, who similarly with some attendees at Monday’s book presentation, loathed bedtime because “sleep is boring.” 

“I was listening to some of the authors that came in and talked at school and it gave me the idea that I had all these stories I wanted to tell, so why not?” Snel said.

After asking her daughter what she would do if she weren’t sleeping, the idea for the adventure story came to Snel. Before bedtime, Isla daydreams about the many creative adventures, from searching for buried treasure on a pirate ship to riding her pet unicorn over rainbows, that she would go on if she didn’t have to sleep.

After writing the story, Snel reached out to a bunch of publishers, one of which enjoyed the story so much and published the book on Snel’s birthday Nov. 1, 2024, which she referred to as “one of the best gifts she’s ever gotten.”

Roscoe, the Snel family’s golden retriever, is alongside Isla across the series of out-of-this-world daydream adventures she goes on before inevitably falling asleep, proving that after all, maybe sleeping isn’t so boring.

By her own admission, Snel has “zero art talent.” The book’s illustrations came after the author connected with Esther Rai, who lives in India. The pair communicated virtually and through photos provided by Snel of herself, Isla and Roscoe, created a cartoon version of the book’s main characters. 

After finishing the short story and a brief question-and-answer session, young attendees were invited to craft together one of their favorite moments from “Sleeping is Boring!” including a treasure chest, a mermaid, a dragon or a rocket ship.

One lucky attendee won a raffle for a copy of Snel’s children’s book, while every attendee was given their own bookmark and a set of stickers. Other children and Manasquan Public Library members are invited to read “Sleeping is Boring!” at the library, located 55 Broad St., after Snel donated the book to be featured in the library’s refined collection. 

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