Confessions of a book lover and Mary had a Sleepy Sheep Children’s Book Review

I am ashamed to say that reading a book at bedtime was a rare occurrence around here until recently.  This is odd considering that my extended family still jokes about my nose being in a book whenever they saw me as a kid.  Little do they know, I still always have a book with me…it’s just on my phone and I can switch between listening to it and reading it. (I love Amazon/Audible)

When I was scrambling just to get them home, fed, bathed, and in bed before 10pm the last thing on my priority list was reading a bedtime story.  I would more often than not be too exhausted to read two books, because Pea prefers “girl” stories and Pork Chop does not.

One benefit of our life-less-rushed is that I can have everyone settled into bed by 8pm.  We’ve slipped into the relaxing routine of two to four books per night.  Despite my failure to read to them regularly, they inherited the love of books.  Though the Hubs was never a “reader” growing up, he’s more than made up for it the last few years.  He may have more books in his library than I do!  (I blame it on the zombie books.)  After reading the bedtime stories, both children drift into sleep.  Maybe it’s a byproduct of having a mommy that isn’t quite so stressed, or maybe it’s the magic of the written word, but bedtimes are no longer a fight–well except for when Pea’s arthritis is flaring.

We’ve had a chance to re-read some treasured favorites this past month.  However, the kid’s were getting bored with the same books.  It was at this point that I received a kindle copy of Julia Dweck’s Mary Had a Sleepy Sheep for review.  Though the ebook was provided to me free of charge, all opinions that follow are mine, Pork Chop, and Pea’s.

Mary had a Sleepy Sheep, by Julia Dweck, is an adorable and educational retelling of the famous nursery song “Mary had a little lamb.”  Mary has a sleepy sheep that she can’t keep awake.  She tries all sorts of shenanigans to get him to wake up–and stay up.  Pork Chop especially loved the feather and shaving cream scene (note to self: put shaving cream on top shelf).   All three of us enjoyed this book.  Pork Chop found it hilarious!

It took Pea a little bit longer to get into the book.  She was put off from the first due to the subject matter.  According to the princess, “Sleeping is horrible and this book is about sleeping so it’s horrible too!”  She’s turning five years old soon.  Give it ten years and her thoughts regarding sleep will change.  Her favorite part of the book was the little find the mouse activity.  She spent several minutes flipping through the pages to find the hidden mouse, Whiskers.

I found this book educational and funny with beautiful illustrations by Wilson Williams, Jr.  Who knew there were so many words synonymous to “sleep?”  The first time I read it, I had to stop and answer the “what does that word mean?” question over and over again.  By the third repetition of “it means ‘sleep’,” the scrugglets had made a game of it and asked even when they knew the word’s meaning.  When the learning is fun, it sticks!  The second time through, there were no interruptions for meanings.  This book was perfect for my four and six year old and I would recommend it for preschoolers, kindergartners and new readers.  We’ll definitely be checking out Julia Dweck’s other titles.

As of right now, I saw that it was a free kindle book on Amazon!  Grab a copy and let me know in the comments what your kiddies think of Sheppard the sleepy sheep!