A Book of Sleep

Title: A Book of Sleep    
Author: Il Sung Na  
Illustrator: Il Sung Na
Publication Date: 2009  
Genre/Format: Fiction/Picture Book  
Summary: All the animals go to sleep except for the watchful owl who observes the animals as they sleep through the night.  
What I Think: I was ecstatic about this book before I even read it just because of the amazing artwork.  I couldn't wait to get home and read it with Peanut.  The artwork inside the book is just as enchanting as the front cover.  What's even better is the simple wording.  I love books that automatically lend themselves to being read in a whisper.  It reminds me of Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown.  Peanut instinctively snuggled in real close and we had fun seeing how the different animals read.  A bonus, mister watchful owl appears somewhere on every 2-page layout so we had fun looking for him.  I adore this book and will definitely be remembering it for friends who are having babies.  As a teacher, I would use this to demonstrate the mood or tone of a book but also to talk about animals and how or when they sleep.  If you focus on the strategy of asking questions, students can brainstorm questions they have about the animals they see in the book.  AND, you could also read it with Bed Hogs by Kelly DePucchio to talk about sleeping and the importance of a good night's sleep.  
Read Together: Pre-k - 5  
Read Alone: 1 - 5
Read With: Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown, A Story for Bear by Dennis Hasely; Bed Hogs by Kelly DiPucchio; Nonfiction about animals - nocturnal animals or how animals sleep   
Snatch of Text: 

"When the sky grows dark 

and the moon glows bright, 

everyone goes to sleep...

...except for the watchful owl."  

Reading Strategies to Practice: Activating Background Knowledge, Making Connections, Asking Questions    
Writing Strategies to Practice: Mood, Tone, Attention Grabbers   
Writing Prompts: Use the first line from this book as a model for your own attention grabbing first line - think of something that everyone is doing...except for _________.  Write about what you might see if you stayed awake when everyone else goes to sleep at night.  
Topics Covered: Animals, Day and Night, Sleep  
Translated to Spanish: No