"'Sula bulungi, Siba and Saba,' Papa would sing before sending the sisters to sleep. 'Sleep well, Siba and Saba.' And in their sleep between soft sheets and dreams of sweets they would find all the things they had lost."

Soothing sibilant text tells the story of sisters who lose things every day and then dream about those lost things. Then one night they start dreaming of things they'll find instead of things they've lost.

The illustrations are as soothing and beautiful as the text. A wonderful bedtime story.

( )

I like this one because it shows a modern view of Africa. Siba and Saba are two sisters that are always losing things, "They lost seven sweaters in seven speeding buses. They lost two pairs of silver sandals on the sandy beaches of Ssese Islands." Every night they dream of the things they have lost. The illustrations are magical. ( )

Sisters Siba and Saba were always losing things. Every day they would lose something, and every night, after their father sent them to bed with the words "Sula bulungi, Siba and Saba" (Sleep Well, Siba and Saba), they would dream of what they lost. Until the night, that is, that they dreamed of a silver shilling and a school uniform - dreams with a significance for their future...

Born in the United States to Ugandan immigrant parents, first-time picture-book author Nansubuga Nagadya Isdahl wrote Sleep Well, Siba & Saba as a means of sharing the beauty of Uganda with her own daughter. The cultural details here - both textual and visual - work to do just that. The story is sweet, as Siba and Saba lose and find things, in and out of their dreams, while the text itself has a nice, gentle rhythm to it. The artwork, done by expatriate French illustrator Sandra van Doorn, is absolutely lovely, with a gorgeous color palette, and appealing, stylized figures. Recommended to anyone looking for picture-books with a Ugandan cultural setting, or for children's stories about sisters, forgetting things, and/or dreams. ( )