REVIEW: A Nap in a Lap

Wilson, S. (2003). A Nap in a Lap. New York: Henry Holt and Company.

0805069763

A little girl and her dog are shown in places all around the world viewing the different positions and places that different animals sleep in before she shares her own favorite nap location.

The illustrations a colorful and often vaguely humorous. They show baby animals smiling as they sleep in positions of safety with a parent. Also, since the girl character's coloring is darker with black hair, readers with similar complexions may be able to identify with her.

Beyond preparing a child for a nap, a parent or teacher could share this book while the young reader sits in his or her lap, and ask the child to label the different animals and colors shown.

This book is comparable to The BIG Sleep Book and to If Animals Kissed Good Night in terms of its content.

Activities:

There are a lot of good vocabulary words in A Nap in a Lap for young children to hear. It can also help provide a sense of safety and contentment to resting in a loved one's lap. And as previously mentioned, this book can also be used to encourage children to say colors and animal names aloud.

Quotes of Notes:

"It's easy to nap

tucked in a flap

or wrapped in a coil"

"or snuzzled

and fuzzled

and kissed on the nose"

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...."

REVIEW: Please, Baby, Please

Lee, S., & Lee, T.L. (2002). Please, Baby, Please. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

0689832338

As with No David and Love You When You Whine, Please, Baby, Please shares a parents' frustration of trying to get a child to behave. As can be discerned by the title, Please, Baby, Please is a rather polite version of asking a child to eat their veggies, go to sleep, not draw on the wall, etc. set within a one-day period. This book does include the child's voice as well at the end, in a shift away from those other books' approaches

It is worth noting that Kadir Nelson's illustrations feature an (ADORABLE!) toddler, in a much more positive light than David Shannon's caricatures of himself in No David or the vaguely disturbing bunnies in Love You When You Whine. It also seems very intentional that this is a positive representation of an African American middle class family.

It is worth noting that the "Lee, S." at the top of this post, is famous director Spike Lee.

Activities to Do with the Book:

Not only can this book be used to help a young child learn to say "please," it can also reinforce the rules of proper conduct in various potentially messy situations.

Also, each page includes a clock telling the time that the child is interacting with her parents (in one case, the clock is digital, but most are analogue). Although there are also setting cues of the approximate time, this book can be used to introduce children to the way time passes and how to tell time.

While the words "please" and "baby" are repeated on every page, they are not always in the same order. This book may be used to help with early literacy since a teacher or parent could help the child distinguish between the two words.

Favorite Quotes:

“Go back to bed, baby, please, baby, please."

"Don't eat the sand, baby baby baby, please."

REVIEW: The BIG Sleep Book

Van Genechten, G. (2008). The BIG Sleep Book. New York: Clavis Publishing Inc.

9781605370125

Originally published abroad in Dutch in 2005, The BIG Sleep Book was first published in English in 2008.

This board book is just what the title would imply—a book all about sleep. It begins with it being time for bed for young Josh and goes on to share the locations and ways various animals sleep. The illustrations are pleasant and humorous, showing the animals sleeping with smiles on their faces in some funny positions.

The story includes one sentence of dialogue, so a parent or teacher could encourage a young child to repeat or “read” the spoken portions of the text after they’ve heard the story many times.

The story also lends itself to having an early reader name the various animals showed (they are never actually named by the text) or in one case to count the sheep present in the illustration:

Personally, I feel like it may be a slight problem to imply “everybody” sleeps at night as the first sentence of the book does. While it provides an argument for having troublesome toddlers go to sleep “because the book says so,” it also shows a bat sleeping at night, which kids will later learn is not the case. Another flaw of this is that as a child, I can remember fighting with my parents in the summer months over not wanting to go to bed because it wasn’t dark outside yet. If only I’d had this book to show my parents and say, “See…I don’t have to go to bed until it’s night and dark out.” Of course, any parent could point at the clock on the wall in the illustration and argue 7 PM, no matter the time of year, is bedtime. But in my head, this argumentative toddler version of myself would not have been able to read a clock yet and so would have found this counter-argument suspect.

Activities to Do with the Book:

A great book for bedtime. It’s less ideal for naptime, since it reinforces the idea of sleeping when it’s dark. It presents the idea that it’s okay to sleep in different places or positions depending on what is comfortable for the individual.

This can be an excellent book to share with young children who are anxious about going to sleep since the book shows each of the animals smiling as they snooze.

Favorite Quotes:

“Everybody goes to sleep at night.”

“Some sleep on their tummies in the mud.”

“Others sleep on their backs in the grass.”

REVIEW: If Animals Kissed Good Night

So, after looking over Crocodaddy two days ago and examining Kim Norman's first book Jack of All Tails yesterday, I thought I'd examine some of the other books David Walker illustrated. I happened to get ahold of four of his books. If Animals Kissed Goodnight is below and three other of his picturebooks are below that.

Paul, A.W. (2008). If Animals Kissed Goodnight. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

If Animals Kissed Goodnight shares the way a number of animals kiss goodnight. While some strict adults may frown upon all the anthropomorphized animals, there is still a lot of fun vocabulary words that toddlers and other youngins can learn from this text. Most of the text is structured into rhyming couplets, which works well.

As the story progresses, the sun sets, brining nighttime to the animals in the illustrations and preparing the reader for bed. Following Walker's other books, these illustrations are light, pleasant and with a sense of humor that matches the text well.

Activities to do with the book:

This is a wonderful bedtime read, probably best left for parents or siblings to read to young kids. I suppose the book would also work for nap time, but I'd still recommend sharing it among family. A teacher reading about all this kissing could be a little...awkward.

If a teacher or parent is bent on turning this story into a lesson, they could focus on the rhyming couplets and have young students try to make their own rhymes and illustrations of animals or family members.

Favorite Quotes:

"If animals kissed like we kiss goodnight,..."

"Walrus calf and her papa would make whiskery swishes,

rubbing each other in scritch-scratchy kisses."

"If animals kissed like we kiss good night,

the sky would turn black, the moon would shine bright,"

For more information on David Walker's work as an illustrator or for information on his latest book, Crocodaddy, check out the other blogs on the tour below:

A Christian Worldview of Fiction, A Mom Speaks, A Pathcwork of Books, All About Children’s Books, Becky’s Book Reviews, Booking Mama,Cafe of Dreams, Dolce Bellezza, Fireside Musings, KidzBookBuzz.com, Looking Glass Reviews, Maw Books Blog, Never Jam Today, Olive Tree, Our Big Earth, Reading is My Superpower, SMS Book Reviews, The 160 Acrewoods, Through a Child’s Eyes

REVIEW: Roar of a Snore

Arnold, M.D. (2006). Roar of a Snore. New York: Dial Books for Young Readers.

2004021475

In the night, Jack has trouble sleeping because the sound of somebody snoring. He begins looking for the offending snorer by waking up each member of his family.

Roar of a Snore uses unpredictable rhyme to tell the story. While the rhyme is inconsistent, it does not feel forced, which is high praise.

The illustrations include a lot of darker tones, to portray nighttime. The colors are not threatening though and encourage this book to be used as a naptime or a bedtime read.

I chose this book for personal reasons. Growing up, I always had to deal with a certain somebody’s snores keeping me awake. I must admit, I rarely handled it as well as Jack. My method of waking potential snorers often involved kicking the bed, throwing pillows, pulling an offending snorer’s sleeping bag outside while camping. In fact, those are still my methods of choice. Nobody messes with my sleep patterns! Nobody!

Activities to do with the book:

This is a good bedtime story, but a teacher could do a lesson on manners and incorporate the fact that it is rude to wake up sleeping friends and loved ones, no matter how loud the snoring.
Also a teacher could reinforce all of the vocabulary present for the various types of snores and for fun could have all the students practice making the various snoring noises.

Favorite Quotes:

“The sky was dark. The stars were bright. Each Huffle fast asleep that night.”

“Jack heard a snore. A might snore! A clamorous snore! A thundering, ear-splitting, roar of a snore!”

“Each Huffle added snuffles, huffs, wheezes, whistles, grumbles, puffs. One giant snore sailed through the night.”