Book of the Week: Ten Sleepy Sheep

A quick effort for book #2 as we're in Bunbury and about to go for a pre-court walk.

This was another library find and it's a goody! It's a "count down" book, from 10 to one, but not nearly as simplistic as most books of that kind. Each page is in verse, and there's quite a sophisticated rhyme scheme and lots of lovely language:

"10

Ten little sheep

Leap the cucumber vine.

Long grass bends.

Spider mends.

Sleep, sheep.

Now there are ..."

and then you turn the page. E loves to turn it at the right time.

Obviously by a British or American author as it mentions a few animals/plants I wasn't immediately familiar with - whipporwills, cattails, rose of heaven.

The left hand side of each page has a big picture of what the remaining sheep are up to, and the right hand page the verse and a smaller picture of the lamb that's going to sleep. Each sheep has a colour coded bow so you can track them throughout the book. The pictures are pretty pastels so maybe not ideal for a brand new baby (although the lyrical words are nicely soothing).

At the end of the book the last remaining sheep bleats "Mama, I can't sleep" and gets the response "Have you tried counting sheep?" and then there is a recitation of where the others went to sleep: "one by the vine, one by the rose ..." I just love children's books with a quiet bit of adult humour!

You could use it as a bedtime routine book but we like it so much it's been getting a good run during the day too!