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Summary
Summary
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?
Author Notes
Anita Lobel (née Kempler) was born on June 2, 1934. She is a Polish-American illustrator of children's books, including A New Coat for Anna, This Quiet Lady, Alison's Zinnia, and On Market Street, which won a Caldecott Honor for illustrations. One Lighthouse, One Moon, one of two books she created about her cat, Nini, is a New York Times Best Illustrated Book. Her childhood memoir, No Pretty Pictures, was a finalist for the National Book Award.
Lobel was born in Krakow, Poland. She was forced to hide in a convent during WWII, but was captured by the Nazis. She and her brother were forced to go into a concentration camp in Germany; they were rescued in 1945 by the Swedish Red Cross. They were lucky to be reunited with their parents in 1947. In 1952, her family moved to New York, and she then attended Pratt Institute for Art. Lobel graduated with a B. F. A. in Fine Arts. Lobel met her husband, Arnold, at Pratt while acting in a play.
Anita's major works include: Alison's Zinnias, Sven's Bridge, On Market Street, and One Lighthouse, One Moon. She has been nominated for numerous awards including selections for the Best Illustrated Book from New York Times Book Reviews (Sven's Bridge, On Market Street and One Lighthouse, One Moon). On Market Street also received a Caldecott Honor Book Award, a Boston Globe/Horn Book Award (illustration), and is an American Book Award finalist.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (6)
Publisher's Weekly Review
After Lena's parents tuck her into bed, a conventional scenario gives way to a humorous fantasy. Needing help to fall asleep, she bids her "woolly friends" to come out. "I'm ready to count you now," says the curly-haired girl. But the sheep are frightened by the "round monster in the window" (the full moon, pictured making a grotesque face) and hide under Lena's bed. At her suggestion, they dress up in costumes so the moon "will not know you are sheep." This creates a new conundrum: they are so "clumsy in their costumes" that they can't line up to be counted-until Lena finds a solution that helps her finally get to sleep. Her earnest, tactical conversation with the sheep takes some amusing turns; when they lament that the moon "looks hungry and ready for a sheep snack," she says, "He's not hungry. He's already full." 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. Ages 2-5. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
After Mama and Papa kiss her goodnight, Lena tells her sleep sheep that she's ready to start counting them. But the big round "monster" (moon) in the window "sca-a-a-a-a-red" them into hiding. How will Lena ever get to sleep if her sheep won't come out? Playful folk artstyle gouache and watercolor illustrations provide a pleasant backdrop for this simple bedtime story. (c) Copyright 2014. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Booklist Review
The full moon shines brightly through Lena's bedroom window as she calls the sheep that help her fall asleep. Afraid of the round monster of a moon, they mill about until Lena sends them to her closet, where they disguise themselves in her clothes. When the moon goes behind a cloud, she informs the sheep that they have frightened the monster away. In the end, they leap through the air in a line above Lena's head as she counts herself to sleep. 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.--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2010 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
Lobel, whose illustrations for "On Market Street" won a Caldecott Honor, tells the sweet and funny story of a little girl who is helped to sleep by a flock of sheep. But sheep are woolly thinkers, and one night, they convince themselves that the moon is on the lookout for a "sheep snack." "He's not hungry. He's already full," the resourceful girl assures them. Painted in Lobel's detailed, decorative style, Lena's starry coverlet and fluffy pillows make bedtime look very inviting. THE SNUGGLE SANDWICH By Malachy Doyle Illustrated by Gwen Millward 32 pp. Andersen Press. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 5) Full of singsong rhymes and scenes of cheerfully chaotic family life, this bedtime book starts in the morning, when a tiny girl in green pajamas sneaks between her dozing parents for a "snuggle sandwich." After her noisy siblings and jovial father leave for school and work, "there's only her and Mama. No more fuss and clutter!" - the perfect time for another snuggle. The endpapers, decorated by Doyle with dancing babies and bears, make the fun last a little longer. GOOD NIGHT, SLEEP TIGHT By Mem Fox Illustrated by Judy Horacek 32 pp. Orchard Books/Scholastic. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 5) Skinny Doug, Bonnie and Ben's favorite sitter, knows some great nursery rhymes. After each, the children exclaim: "How does it go? Will you say it again?" and Doug replies: "Some other time. But I'll tell you another I heard from my mother." Fox (author of "Time for Bed") cleverly presents seven old rhymes in a contemporary context that's likely to appeal to boys and girls equally; Horacek's unfussy line drawings are a good match. ON MY WAY TO BED By Sarah Maizes; illustrated by Michael Paraskevas 40 pp. Walker/Bloomsbury. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) "Bed is for tired people," Livi says. "I am not a tired person. I still have energy." Seen in Paraskevas's bright, action-packed illustrations, Livi's high jinks include juggling toys, playing zoo dentist and piloting an imaginary rocket. As the grown-up voice directing her to bed grows more insistent, Livi finally lies down, envisioning herself parched in the desert, offered water from an armyissue canteen. How could dreams live up to this preamble? THE WEE HOURS By Stephanie Watson Illustrated by Mary GrandPré 40 pp. Disney-Hyperion Books. $16.99. (Picture book; ages 3 to 6) For children who wonder what goes on while they're asleep, Watson suggests one possibility: Little elfin creatures arrive, one at a time, on the hour, and wreak mischievous mayhem in children's bedrooms, emptying bureau drawers, pulling down curtains and interfering with dreams. As dawn approaches, older, more responsible Hours arrive to tidy up and tuck the Wee Hours into their own beds. GrandPré, who illustrated the American editions of the "Harry Potter" series, here uses rich purples and velvety reds to evoke a moonlit room full of mysterious shadows. Though there's not a wand in sight, there's plenty of magic in play. ONLINE A slide show of this week's illustrated books at nytimes.com/books.
School Library Journal Review
PreS-K-Every evening Lena counts her sheep to help her fall asleep, but tonight they are afraid of the "round monster" in the window. Lena tries to explain that it's just the Moon, but those silly creatures won't listen, so she convinces them to dress up in disguises to scare it away. When a bit of cloud covers it, the sheep finally line up so she can count them properly. This simple story lulls readers gently toward slumber with a clever heroine and a simple premise. The beautiful gouache and watercolor illustrations are classic Lobel, from the detailed design of Lena's flowered footboard to the clever layout, which maintains separate illustration spaces on the right- and left-hand sides until the final spread-a satisfying, expansive picture of Lena's sheep flying overhead as she drifts off to sleep.-Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD (c) Copyright 2013. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
When Lena's parents tuck her into bed, she inadvertently unleashes a bit of ovine chaos by asking them to leave the curtains open so she can see the full moon. Lena loves the moon, and the picture hanging above her bed suggests that she loves sheep, too. When her parents leave her bedroom, she calls for the sheep to come out so she can count them and lull herself to sleep. They are afraid of the moon, though, and think it looks like a monster that is "ready for a sheep snack." Even though she's sleepy, Lena is patient and tells the sheep they can disguise themselves in her clothing to trick the moon. Lobel's soft watercolor-and-gouache paintings take on a frenetic energy in this scene, as the sheep in Lena's clothing frolicking about seem in desperate need of herding so that they might provide Lena with a restful, orderly parade through her imagination. Then, one sheep notices that clouds obscure the moon and thinks the monster is gone. Reassured, the sheep line up, and Lena counts them to sleep. The pitch-perfect ending finds the moon, not monstrous at all, peeking from behind the clouds to say, "Good night, silly sheep. And good night, lovely Lena." A lovely "Going-to-Bed Book" indeed. (Picture book. 2-5)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
