Review by Booklist Review
Ah, sleep. Adults crave it; kids avoid it. This straightforward picture book shows how and where a variety of animals settle down for a snooze. Some slumber habits are summed up in simple, declarative sentences (""Giraffes sleep standing up""). Others offer comparisons (""Meerkats sleep in a heap. Rhinos sleep alone."") or interesting facts for young readers to ponder (""Fish swim when they sleep and never shut their eyes!""). After looking at 19 different animals, the main text ends with a conversation starter: ""Do you think they dream?"" Back matter offers boxed insets of random facts about the various critters. There's some additional material about sleep habits (cats can sleep up to 20 hours a day) plus some kid-pleasing trivia bits (a group of tortoises is called a creep). The mixed-media illustrations feature soothing, muted colors and portray the animals in cozy, reassuring attitudes of repose. This basic introduction should get kids thinking about where and why animals sleep where they do, an often-overlooked aspect of habitats and life cycles.--Kathleen McBroom Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A variety of animals snooze in homes, on farms, and in the wild in this spare, factual lullaby that recalls Gyo Fujikawa's Sleepy Time. A cat and a dog snuggle cozily on one side of the first spread ("Cats and dogs sleep curled up...") before roughhousing on the other ("when they aren't playing"). Though the remaining creatures remain asleep, opposites are a running theme: meerkats messily "sleep in a heap," while "rhinos sleep alone;" bears spend the whole winter snoozing, but ants "sleep for only a few moments at a time." Upside-down text accompanies the sloth's page, cleverly mirroring the manner in which it sleeps. The end poses a question ("Do you think they dream?"), and Prendergast portrays imagined animal dreams with levity: a tortoise exuberantly crosses a finish line; hibernating bears envision honey. The soft, realistic, mixed-media animal portraits radiate vintage warmth well-suited to the soporific mood with muted colors and gentle strokes. Fact-filled back matter adds depth for older readers. A soothing, informative offering to lull young creatures to sleep. Ages 5--8. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
Toddler-PreS--All animals sleep. Some sleep standing up, some sleep hanging down. Some sleep in groups and others sleep alone; some close their eyes and others keep them open. Prendergast presents a sweet bedtime tale that doubles as a beginning informational picture book. Children will enjoy the mixed media illustrations depicting familiar animals as chickens, horses, a cat and a dog, and other animals that might be new, such as sloths and meerkats. The illustrations, expressing the text faithfully, have a dreamlike quality achieved with soft curved brushes that invoke the different surroundings where animals slumber. This book can be used during a pajama storytime or at home during the nighttime routine. In addition, the back matter contains fun facts about the animals covered and five websites with information about animal habits. VERDICT A classic-themed picture book that will connect children with animals while sharing some basic facts about them.--Kathia Ibacache, Simi Valley Public Library, CA
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Simple sentences and softly colored, detailed drawings offer facts about the sleeping habits of 19 animals, both domesticated and wild.After showing a sleeping tiger on its cover and a hibernating bear on the title page, the book opens to a familiar domestic scene: a dog and cat curled up together on a multicolored, braided rug. Muted colors add to the tranquility. The large type underneath says on the verso, "Cats and dogs sleep curled up" and finishes on the recto, under a picture of the two animals tussling about: "when they aren't playing." As with all the art, the animals are both realistic and imbued with a sweetness that strikes a perfect chord for a bedtime story. For each animal surveyed the text points out just a fact or two about that animal's sleeping habits. Cleverly, the text for the upside-down-sleeping sloth is literally upside down. The open question at the endwith its appealing, imaginative illustrationsencourages readers to speculate about animals' dreams; it is a subtle way to continue the soporific mood into the realm of human dreams. The majority of the book is a lovely bedtime story for the very young. Older readers will enjoy the backmatter, which expands on the earlier information and adds interesting tidbits, such as the fact that giraffes' necks have the same number of vertebrae as humans' necks (seven).Facts to precede sweet slumbering. (Informational picture book. 2-6) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
