Wednesday, November 5, 2008

"Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep"


Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep
Written by: Kimiko Khaikawa
Photographs by: Various
Published by: Henry Holt and Company in NY in 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-5890-7
Genre(s): Picture Book, Informational Text
Reading Level: Kindergarten
Activity Level: Kindergarten

Summary: This book is about sleeping animals. Each double-page spread has huge letters to tell the name of the animal and slightly smaller letters to tell an interesting fact about the way they sleep. It talks about orangutans, sharks, sloths, hippos, flamingos and humans just to name a few. One of the most interesting parts of this book is the chart at the end detailing the average number of hours a day each of these animals sleeps.

Response: I love that this book is so simple for young children, yet it inspires many questions. I also really like the amazing photographs in this work and the information in the back of the book about each animal.

The photographs in this book are actually of these animals sleeping some of which are incredibly adorable!


Teaching Connections: This book could easily be used in a kindergarten classroom. The teacher could read this book to her students and then ask her students the following questions the book suggests.

Where do you like to sleep?
What your favorite sleeping position?
Do you take naps during the day?
How many hours do you usually sleep at a time?
What kinds of sounds do you think you make while you sleep?
What is the funniest thing about the way you sleep?


What Students Learn: From this book and these questions students learn about how several common animals sleep and are able to compare that to the way they sleep.

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