Review by Booklist Review
Silliness and quiet wisdom follow the tracks of an animal-transport van that delivers a sloth to the zoom instead of the zzzzzoo. Rather than arriving at a laid-back new abode, the sloth finds himself living with a really fast crowd: monkeys who constantly climb, zebras who run so fast that their stripes come off, parrots who streak across the sky so fleetly that they leave rainbows in their wake. The sloth wants to make a friend, but the zoom crowd won't slow down for him. Subtle jabs are made at overscheduled adults here, as seen with the busy, busy, busy! cheetah and the monkeys who are running late. Orbie's pastel illustrations, with comic-book lettering and speech bubbles, are a joy to follow and creatively show just how slow a sloth can be. For example, several speech bubbles are used for one sloth sentence to show his unhurried pace. The sloth finally finds a friend just his speed, and their picnic for two grows as the other animals finally stop by and become fast friends.--Connie Fletcher Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Horn Book Review
Delivered to "the Zoom" (instead of the "Zzzzzoo"), a sloth doesn't understand why the animals are always in a hurry. She takes her time, and eventually, gradually, makes friends with a snail. In the end, the other animals pause long enough "to become fast friends." This tale will especially appeal to children who move at a different pace; Orbie's illustrations offer lots to slow down for. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A quintessentially laid-back sloth is mistakenly delivered to the Zoom instead of her expected destination, the Zzzzzoo. It was a wrong turn (as the endpapers show). At the Zoom, "The monkeys climbed so fast they forgot to stop at the treetops. / And the parrots flew so fast their tails drew rainbows across the sky." Over an appropriately attenuated period of weeks, the sloth tries to befriend a cheetah, those monkeys, and a zeal of zebrasbut all rush off with only the briefest of exchanges. Just as the sloth resigns herself to loneliness"No one here has any time"she meets a snail. Evidencing their perfectly matched modi vivendi, it takes four funny panels for the sloth to mosey down to the snail's philodendronthe same amount of time for the snail to travel the length of a leaf. "And as the setting sun adorned the sky," they share a snack and a cool drink. Predictably, their contentment attracts the attention of the other animals, who "[slow] down / just long enough, that is, to become fast friends." Perfectly pitched for preschoolers who are just beginning to understand jokes, Becker's turns of phrase are well-cadenced for read-alouds. Notably, the sloth never loses her cool over the other animals' ways. Orbie's appealing illustrations evoke those of Bill Peet.A gentle lesson that positive alternatives to hurtling mindlessly through life do existeven at the Zoom. (Picture book. 3-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
