• Age: 4 to 7
• Grade: p to 2
• Reading age: 4 to 7

On a hot, steamy summer night, young Brando and his parents move out onto the porch to sleep, hoping they might catch a hint of the breeze. They soon fall asleep, but around midnight Brando stirs. And in the flicker of a firefly, the cat from the nearby graveyard lands on his cot . . . and so begins an amazing adventure.

Together, Brando and the Graveyard Cat soar over the city that is melting in the heat and leap into the night sky, as high as the rings of Saturn. They head north where the arctic seas are full of seals and whales and shimmering icebergs. They scale jagged cliffs and slide down whistling slopes. But when the iceberg they're riding on begins to melt and they both nearly fall into the frigid water, their cries fill the hot summer night. When Brando wakes up the next morning, it all seems to have been a dream . . . or was it?

Ian Wallace has had a distinguished career as an author and illustrator of picture books, publishing many classics such as Chin Chiang and the Dragon’s Dance, Boy of the Deeps and The Huron Carol. His visual interpretation of Canadian Railroad Trilogy by Gordon Lightfoot received three starred reviews and was named a USBBY Outstanding International Book and a Resource Links’ Year’s Best. He has won the Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Award, the Mr. Christie’s Book Award, the Amelia Frances Howard-Gibbon Award and the IODE Violet Downey Book Award. He has also been nominated for the prestigious Hans Christian Andersen Award and the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. Ian lives in Brookline, Massachusetts, with his wife, Deb.

Ian Wallace's profile page

...a quietly whimsical way to beat the heat.

Kirkus Reviews

...Wallace's choices of palette perfectly reflects the story: moody blues and greys, complete with grainy textures, give the reader a sense of being inside [Brando's] dream...The text benefits from a lilting cadence and fun dialogue...making this latest effort from a beloved author as enjoyable to read as it is to look at, for adults and children alike.

Quill & Quire

Ian Wallace is a masterful and well-loved author and illustrator of children's books, and in this, his latest creation, he doesn't disappoint...ample opportunity for readers (and the read- to) to enjoy a richly hued, beautifully imagined watercolour world.

School Library Journal

Evocative writing and outstanding watercolors meld in this dream fantasy...Wallace's writing shines...the illustrations are powerful spreads...

School Library Journal

The Sleeping Porch