Where will the sleepy sheep sleep? by David Metzenthen and Jonathan Bentley
Loads of young children will be laughing out loud as this wonderfully entertaining book is read at bedtime. Or anytime at all! A tongue testing text full of opportunities for the listener to join in, to predict and just have fun, the words are placed on the pages, often under the single word, Baah.
The sleepy sheep wants to find a place to sleep. The first place it looks at is on top of a wild, windy hill. But no, this place is totally inappropriate and so the sheep must look elsewhere. He tries out a steep and stony valley, but no, it is simply too steep and stony for the sleepy sheet to sleep. The sheep wonders about bedding down with the foxes and dingoes, but this is again rejected. What about the dark damp cave? Again rejected. From the start the audience will have been joining in with Noo, and Blah, as well as the phrase ‘where will the sleepy sheep sleep’, a tongue twister to engage them all. The sheep attempts to sleep at a few more places until the ideal position is found and he snuggles down to lie with his own mob.
The fun of the words is infectious, all readers and listeners will join in, laughing at why each place is so inappropriate for the sheep to sleep.
And of course, supported with the wonderful images by Jonathan Bentley, the readers will have another level of humour to absorb. The looks on the sheep’s face as it tries out various places to rest its head are engaging as kids will see the face going through a range of emotions: hopeful as it tests a new place, disappointed when it proves to be not quite right, and always tired as all it wants is a place to sleep. Readers will enjoy calling out why they think each spot is not right for the sheep to sleep.
The lovely cover showing a closeup of one very tired sheep will encourage children to think about how tired they feel, and what shows their tiredness and why they go to bed when they do.
Themes: Sleep, Sheep, Bedroom, Bedtime story, Tongue twister.
Fran Knight