Goodnight, Sleepyville

PreS-Gr 2–It’s the end of the day for the families in Sleepyville, as detailed scenes entice young readers to imagine the lives of animal families in an anthropomorphic folk art fantasy. Pencil, watercolor, and gouache illustrations show shops closing, shadows lengthening, and last call to check out books from the library. The residents find their ways to a variety of homes: ladybugs return to the domes of toadstools, a snail adjusts a tiny roof, and others return to an elaborate house across the expanse of a tree’s broad branches. Simple tasks bring the day to a close—shoes off, “wash your paws for supper,” clean up after dinner, and don favorite pajamas. The alliterative text reinforces the images—sweeping, shutting, strutting—as animals snuggle, wiggle, and cuddle up for a bedtime lullaby.