Score One for the Sloths

by Helen Lester, Lynn Munsinger (Illustrator)

Overview

The sloths at Sleepy Valley Sloth School were content in their slothfulness. Once in a while the teacher would awake and command them all to yawn or snore, but most of the time, the class just slept. One day, a new sloth arrives. She isn’t much like a sloth at all. She is a go-getter, a mover and a shaker—which is to say she actually moves. By mid-morning she’s driven the other sloths crazy. They think she’s a pest, and she thinks they’re nothing but a bunch of bores, that is until a real boar arrives—an official representative of S.O.S. (Society for Organizing Sameness) sent to close the school because of their low academic scores. Something has to be done, and all eyes turn to Sparky. Even with all of her energy though, Sparky can’t save the school alone.

Readers are sure to enjoy this humorous tale that celebrates the value of both individuality and being true to oneself.

Featuring bonus audio!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780547346434
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/03/2015
Series:	Laugh-Along Lessons Series
Sold by:	HARPERCOLLINS
Format:	eBook
Pages:	32
File size:	15 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Helen Lester has written many hilarious and popular picture books, including the Tacky the Penguin series and Hooway for Wodney Wat. She lives in New York. www.helenlester.com

Lynn Munsinger has illustrated more than ninety books for children, many written by her frequent collaborator, Helen Lester. She lives in Vermont.

Editorial Reviews

These propitiously paired collaborators (Hooway for Wodney Wat; Tacky the Penguin) again turn out a comic caper with a subtly delivered moral. Words and pictures set the scene with laugh-out-loud humor as readers meet the pajama-clad, somnambulistic students at Sleepy Valley Sloth School, which is perched on the branches of a tree. "Once in a while the teacher would remember his job and wake up with a lesson" in such demanding subjects as yawning, snoring and rolling over but most of the time "the class just slept." Instead of lunch hour there are "lunch three hours," followed by naptime, study hall (when the sloths fall asleep in a hammock or on the floor, their books covering their faces) and recess (which finds the classmates draped over a swing set, dozing). The dismissal bell rings at 3:00, yet it takes them until dusk to exit (the custodian finally sweeps them out with a broom). Enter Sparky, whose energy and spunk her new classmates find anything but contagious. However, when an inspector comes from the S.O.S. (Society for Organizing Sameness) in the Mammal District and threatens to close down the school, the sloths follow Sparky's cues to successfully perform the required tasks in such a way that they save their school without betraying their true nature. Score another one for Lester and Munsinger. Readers will hope the sloths return for a rematch. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 3-Everything is nice and peaceful at Sleepy Valley Sloth School, with the sloths content in their slothfulness, until Sparky arrives. She is, just as her name would indicate, full of energy, and decidedly unslothlike: "Let's read a story! Hey, we could use a little music!" She soon dubs her classmates "a bunch of bores," as they try to ignore her and continue to nap. When a representative of the S.O.S. (Society for Organizing Sameness)-"a real boar"-arrives to close the school because of its low test scores, it is up to Sparky to save the day. Somehow Munsinger manages to make sloths endearing. The illustrations add delightful comic details that build on the text. For example, the classroom is decorated with the sloths' artful crayon renderings of a pillow, bed, and recliner and the chalkboard reveals they have been counting sheep for the math lesson. The day's schedule lists "nothing" for both the morning and afternoon. Though fans of the Lester/Munsinger team will at least want to consider this one, it is not as successful as Hooway for Wodney Wat (Houghton, 2001). Some of the story lacks logic; it is unclear if anything will change for Sparky after she tricks the boar and the school is allowed to continue. Will she be just as bored with her fellow students or will she become more slothlike? While the art is great, the text relies on easy laughs, perhaps at the expense of the story.-Robin L. Gibson, Perry County District Library, New Lexington, OH Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

An amusing, if decidedly sleepy, tale of sloths and the very relaxing atmosphere of their school-an institution thrown in jeopardy by a bureaucrat of conventional stripe-from the hand-and-glove team behind Tacky the Penguin and Wodney Wat. Sleepy Valley Sloth School lives up to its name: nobody here but drowsy sloths. They snooze through their lessons-so do their teachers-through their recess, through their study hall. They sleep "until six o'clock when the custodian swept them out, and they rolled home." It was one contented educational establishment. One day a disruptive influence makes the scene: a young fireplug of a sloth named Sparky, who tries to light some fire under her classmates: " ‘Let's read a story! Hey, we could use a little music! Want to build a castle? Anyone for math? How about some poetry?' " No takers. " ‘What a bunch of bores,' " she sighs. Then a real boar pushes through the door, an operative from the Society for Organizing Sameness, come to close the school for failing in all subjects. Sparky saves the school by dazzling the organization man with feats of reading, music, math, and poetry. Who says sloths are underachievers? They're being sloths, and just how many creatures have had their name elevated to a common adjective? Only Munsinger could so perfectly catch them in all their languid glory, from the opening page when they are quite literally "just hanging around" as loose-limbed and zonked-out as anything ever seen, to as nearly awake as a sloth can get while piled up in a heap trying to pay attention. And the belly laughs induced by Lester's words will keep everyone awake. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews

An amusing, if decidedly sleepy, tale of sloths and the very relaxing atmosphere of their school-an institution thrown in jeporady by a bureaucrat of conventional stripe-from the hand-and-glove team behind Tacky the Penguin and Wodney Wat. Sleepy Valley Sloth School lives up to its name: nobody here but drowsy sloths. They snooze through their lessons-so do their teachers-through their recess, through their study hall. They sleep "until six o'clock when the custodian swept them out, and they rolled home.". . . One day a disruptive influence makes the scene: ayoung fireplug of a sloth named Sparky, who tries to light some fire under her classmates. . . "'What a bunch of bores.'" she signs. Then a real boar pushes through the door, an operative from the Society for Organizing Sameness, come to close the school for failing in all subjects. Sparky saves the school by dazzling the organization man with feats of reading, music, math, and poetry. Who says sloths are underachievers? They're being sloths, and just how many creatures have had their name elevated to a common adjective? Only Munsinger could so perfectly catch them in all their languid glory, from the opening page when they are quite literally "just hanging around" as loose-limbed and zonked-out as anything ever seen, to as nearly awake as a sloth can get while piled up in a heap trying to pay attention. And the belly laughs induced by Lester's words will Kirkus Reviews with Pointers

"Score another one for Lester and Munsinger, Readers will hope the sloths return for a rematch." —Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly

"Lester’s laid-back text is packed with silly puns, and Munsinger’s hilariously detailed line-and-watercolor pictures express the delicious relaxation of Sleepy Valley Sloth School, where everyone, teachers and kids, literally hangs around." Booklist, ALA —

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