The Flock

by Margarita del Mazo, Guridi (Illustrator)

Overview

"Being a sheep is easy. All they have to do is graze, snooze and help people fall asleep now and again. Every person is assigned their own personal flock... The drill is always the same, first Sheep one jumps over the fence, then Sheep two followed by Sheep three and so forth. When a little boy called Mike can't sleep one night, he stars to count his personal flock.. Sheep One, Sheep Two, Sheep Three... but then something strange happens... Sheep four doesn't want to jump! How will Mike be able to get to sleep now?"--Provided by publisher.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9788419253262
Publisher:	NubeOcho
Publication date:	04/04/2023
Series:	Somos8
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	11.50(w) x 7.75(h) x (d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Margarita Del Mazo Fernández studied law, but changed her path and became a children's book author instead. Raúl Guridi studied fine arts in Seville and since then has worked professionally in areas such as image, design, and advertising. Recently, he has focused on illustration and combines it with his career as a high school teacher.

Editorial Reviews

Cartoon art outlined in black depicts green-dominated pasture scenes against white space offset by blue and dark gray tones for Mike’s sleepless setting, enhancing the amusing premise of this offbeat but heartening narrative. A humorous take on a long-standing tactic for combating insomnia. (Picture book. 5-8) – Kirkus.

Throughout, plain backdrops provide human characters’ skin tones, and scribbly sketches by Guridi depict the rule-following animals with simple features and stick legs. – Publishers Weekly.

Both the English and Spanish version read smoothly with a sly sense of humor. Great for kids who feel a bit different and an excellent bedtime story. – Youth Services Book Review.

"A singular picture book for curious kids who appreciate layers of meaning and reflection in their stories—and just the right amount of silliness" –  Starred review in School Library Journal.

The Flock, by Margarita del Mazo, beautifully dramatizes this quandary: that numbers are at once alike and wildly different. The numbers One through Nine enter as sheep who usually jump single-file over a hurdle while a sleepy boy named Mike counts. One night, Four refuses to jump. It is a numeric and a narrative crisis, which the illustrator Guridi animates with humor and urgency.  – Counting on Conversation. The New York Times.

A nice story about standing out from the crowd. The illustrations are cute and expressive. – Kiss the Book Jr.

From the Publisher

2023-01-25
A wayward sheep changes how a boy falls asleep every night.

Everyone has their own personal flock of sheep to count in order to fall asleep. Mike’s sheep dutifully do their job—until one night, one member of the flock—Four—refuses to take her turn jumping over the imaginary fence. “I’m sick and tired of always doing the same thing.” As the hours pass and poor Mike remains wide awake, the other sheep continue to coax Four to “Jump! Jump! Jump!” Four stubbornly responds, “No! No! No!” Finally, a postman arrives on a bicycle and delivers a letter addressed to Four with an urgent plea from Mike. This prompts the mutinous sheep to “resolutely walk towards the fence.” With “a glorious leap,” she jumps “so high and far” that she eventually disappears. Mike finally drifts off and then never needs to count sheep again. “He’s been sleeping just fine.” How is Mike able to adjust after Four’s deliberate exodus? The final spread, depicting a little sheep cuddled up next to him in bed, offers a clue. Cartoon art outlined in black depicts green-dominated pasture scenes against white space offset by blue and dark gray tones for Mike’s sleepless setting, enhancing the amusing premise of this offbeat but heartening narrative, translated from Spanish. Mike has skin the nighttime blue of the page; the postman has skin the white of the page. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A humorous take on a long-standing tactic for combating insomnia. (Picture book. 5-8)

Kirkus Reviews