REVIEW: The Napping House

Wood, A. (1984). The Napping House. Orlando: Harcourt, Inc.

0152050809

A new edition of The Napping House has been published and I'm very excited about it. Because this is another one of those books that I think deserves classic status. I mean it's survived 25 years and still is often referenced as a wonderful example of picturebook-dom. Has this been declared a classic yet? Can I declare it to be classic? Do I have that magic power? Let's find out. Pssst! The Napping House is a classic pass it on! We'll see if that works.

In case you haven't heard, "there is a house, a napping house, where everyone is sleeping." The illustrations and narration then move into a house to describe a grandmother who is sleeping in the bed, and which child and animals join her there. The language is repetitive, growing on itself level by level, working an early reader up to reading almost a half-page of text. Of course, the peace cannot last, and everyone's ability to snooze depends on everyone else's and readers can see the tower of sleepers be undone, napper by napper.

The illustrations feature a lot of curves and soothing blues, all excellent for easing children to sleep. It's also fun to see the change in perspective as the bedroom is viewed from different angles.

Activities:

This simple book is wonderful as a read aloud before or after a nap or night's sleep. Since the language repeats, it can be a good book for children to memorize and play at pretending to read.

The second half of the picturebook features many synonyms of ways to disturb a sleeper that can aide children's language development.

On a less typical note, if a child is used to being able to have a bed to themselves, this book could be used to let them know that it could be fun to share a bed during a sleep over, or while a cousin visits, etc.

Quotes of Note:

"There is a house,

a napping house,

where everyone is sleeping."

"And in that house

there is a bed,

a cozy bed

in a napping house,

where everyone is sleeping."

"And on that bed

there is a snoring granny,

a snoring granny

on a cozy bed

in a napping house,

where everyone is sleeping."

"And on that mouse

there is a flea...."