THE LITTLE SLEEPYHEAD

This little sleepyhead is an urchin with wild hair and an imp’s mien, and he wants to sleep after playing all day. He tries the grass, but bugs tickle him. Squirrels hug branches, but he finds trees bumpy; frogs dream on lily pads, but he just gets wet. After each trial comes the call and response: “Did he sleep? No!” When he cuddles up next to a bear and the bear snores, Little Sleepyhead shouts that he wants quiet and wants to sleep. So doing, he wakes up everybody. The beavers began chewing down trees, the crash startles the birds, whose feathers fly about into a soft pile, and—there it is: a bed! But Little Sleepyhead still isn’t comfy. Along comes a lamb, he holds out his arms, and the lamb snuggles inside them. And did lamb and boy sleep? YES! Gore’s beautifully luminescent images go from the colors of late afternoon to early evening in a world that is “so young that all the rocks were little pebbles.” And the last sentence makes it perfect for that last story before bed. (Picture book. 3-7)