Sweet Dreams, Wild Animals!: A Story of Sleep

by Eileen R Meyer, Laurie Caple (Illustrator)

Overview

The sun has set; the sky is dark.
Bright stars shine in the night.
It’s time to rest, to dream sweet dreams,
then wake with morning’s light.

The animals will slumber, too.
Some near, some far away.
How will they settle down to sleep?
Each has a special way.
Fourteen animals, including the cuddly koala, the hairy anteater, and the wise owl, are featured in this lyrical bedtime story about the unusual ways that animals sleep. Natural history notes explain how each animal sleeps, from the magnificent frigatebird, which naps while flying hundreds of feet above the sea, to the walrus, which sleeps with its tusks anchored in floating ice. Whimsical watercolors of dozing animals will help any weary child fall to sleep with a smile.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780878426379
Publisher:	Mountain Press
Publication date:	04/28/2015
Pages:	1
Product dimensions:	8.50(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	5 - 7 Years

About the Author

Eileen R. Meyer has long been a fan of family trips to zoos and national parks because they provide opportunities to watch the beauty of animals on the move. Eileen’s poetry has appeared in numerous children’s magazines, and she enjoys presenting interactive writing workshops to grade school students. This is her first book for Mountain Press. She lives in the Chicago suburbs with her husband and three sons. Learn more about Eileen at www.eileenmeyerbooks.com.

Exploring forests and wading through ponds as a child in search of turtles and frogs set the stage for Laurie Caple’s career as a children’s book illustrator and natural history artist. A graduate of Michigan Technological University, Laurie has created artwork for numerous picture books and periodicals, such as American Girl and Cricket. Her primary medium is watercolor. Laurie lives in northern Wisconsin with her husband, two sons, two golden retrievers, and three turtles named Skittles, Snickers, and Sassafras.

Editorial Reviews

03/09/2015
One by one, Meyer and Caple bid 14 animals good night, using rhymed couplets and dappled watercolors to show off the unusual ways they go to sleep. From a horse that can sleep standing up (“She locks her legs to stay in place,/ then takes her naps each day”) to frigate birds that take midflight naps, Meyer covers common and less familiar creatures, while informational passages expand on their sleeping habits. The layouts, rhymes, and prose sections never get too exciting or adventurous—the mood is undeniably soporific—but children will finish the book having learned some intriguing details about how other creatures get their rest. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

05/01/2015
K-Gr 3—This combination of poetry and prose brings to life 14 animals at rest or asleep. Creatures such as a koala, an owl, a horse, a giraffe, and a dolphin are depicted on serviceable watercolor spreads that convey the stillness of the night. Younger children attending storytime will be engaged by the four short rhyming lines and refrain, while older readers will appreciate the brief, informative paragraphs that describe where the animals sleep and a few dietary and anatomical facts. VERDICT This mix of bedtime sleepytime verses and interesting content makes for an enjoyable two for one.—Nancy Call, Santa Cruz Public Libraries, Aptos, CA

School Library Journal

2015-01-20
A cozy combination of restful rhymes, natural history notes and close-up pictures of snoozing creatures.Meyer's verse gets ahead of itself in the first stanza—"The sun has set; the sky is dark. / Bright stars shine in the night. / It's time to rest, to dream sweet dreams, / then wake with morning's light"—and elsewhere favors sound over sense, but despite these small miscues, its gently rhythmic measures create a properly soporific tone for this look at animal downtimes. As the prose commentary accompanying each of the 14 rhymed entries makes clear, sleeping patterns vary widely, and scientists are often hard put to find them at all: Horses and giraffes tend to take only short naps; grizzly bears can fall into a long sleep that resembles hibernation; dolphins and mallards rest half their brains at a time; fish rest but may not truly sleep. Other animals presented include koalas, owls, flamingos, brown bats, giant anteaters, magnificent frigatebirds, black-tailed prairie dogs and walruses. Meyer nonetheless bids all the chosen creatures "Sweet dreams," and Caple depicts them in accurate detail and quiet settings yawning (where appropriate) or posed fetchingly with younglings. Slumber and science in harmonious combination, equally suitable for bedtime reading or for sharing with wakeful groups. (Informational picture book. 5-7)

Kirkus Review

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