Lena's Sleep Sheep - Hardcover

Lobel, Anita

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0449810259 ISBN 13: 9780449810255

Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers, 2013

Synopsis

After a hug and kiss from Mama and Papa, Lena is cozy in her bed and ready for her sleep sheep to help her fall asleep. But the sheep refuse to line up and be counted!

"We're sca-a-a-a-red!" the sheep baa together. "There's a round monster in the window, making faces at us. He looks hungry and ready for a sheep snack."

Lena's sheep are afraid of the full moon shining through her window. Can clever Lena help these silly sheep overcome their fears so that she can get a good night's sleep?

About this title

About the Author

ANITA LOBEL is well known and well loved by picture-book fans young and old. She is the illustrator of On Market Street written by Arnold Lobel, which was a Caldecott Honor Book. Books she has both written and illustrated include Alison's Zinnia; One Lighthouse, One Moon; 10 Hungry Rabbits; and Nini Lost and Found,which was a Booklist's Editors' Choice 2010 and a Horn Book Fanfare Best Book of 2010.

Review

The New York Times, August 25, 2013:
"The sweet and funny story of a little girl who is helped to sleep by a flock of sheep...Painted in Lobel’s detailed, decorative style, Lena’s starry coverlet and fluffy pillows make bedtime look very inviting.”

Publishers Weekly, June 3, 2013:
"Lobel’s (Nini Lost and Found) gouache and watercolor art adds to the story’s offbeat humor; the sheep’s vivid disguises include cat masks, tutus, sailor outfits, and more. An inventive and slightly raucous bedtime tale."

Booklist, August 1, 2013:
"There’s something beguilingly childlike about this simple story, in which the girl takes charge, reassuring her “silly sheep” that the moon won’t eat them, and when that doesn’t work, managing their fears in a playful way. The gouache-and-watercolor illustrations create cozy, yet lively scenes that are full of color, pattern, and movement. A quiet, imaginative tale that is just right for reading aloud at bedtime."

The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, October 2013:
"The gentle plot and quiet cadence of the text make this bedtime book a effective soporific that may actually induce slumber in its young audience...The gouache and watercolor art is cozy and attractive, with a folk-art solidity, and Lobel’s slightly smudgy layering and blending of colors gives depth and richness to the pictures...Besides bedtime reading, this might also lend itself as a closing title for an evening library storytime session."

Kirkus Reviews, June 15, 2013:
"A lovely 'Going-to-Bed Book' indeed."

Edition details

• Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0449810259
• ISBN 13: 9780449810255
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 24