SWEET DREAMERS written and illustrated by Isabelle Simler is an enchanting picture book tour of the sleep habits of twenty-seven animals bedding down in either the sky, or trees, or on the ground, below the ground or in the ocean deep. From a whale, bat, hedgehog, swallow and frog to an elephant, koala bear, dolphin, seahorse and squirrel the 80 pages are captivating.
The descriptions of each sleeping creature are magically poetic. “The Humpback whale dreams vertically, with plankton at every level. Balancing on her head or the tip of her tail, this ballerina nosedives into sleep.” The accompanying illustration captures the gracefulness of this movement.
The first animal to be presented is the sloth. He is sleeping as he hangs upside down on a branch. The child views the sloth from afar on one page and then up close on the next. This pattern continues throughout the book and gives the child a visual path to each animal’s contentment as seen on its face. The illustrations, created digitally, are shaped by both a scratching technique and by illuminating colors. Most striking is the illustration of a robin redbreast sleeping in a ball of feathers. The two-page spread literally sparkles in yellow and scarlet.
At the end of the book there is a picture of a surprise 28th inhabitant all tucked in for sleep that will surely delight children.
SWEET DREAMERS written and illustrated by Isabelle Simler is an unusual, informative and creative bedtime picture book to be shared with children 4-7 years of age (Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2019).
Questions and activities for SWEET DREAMERS
Look back through the illustrations and find at least one animal who: sleeps upside down, sleeps standing up, sleeps wrapped up in a ball of feathers, sleeps standing on one leg, sleeps while flying, sleeps hanging by a thread, sleeps in the mud, sleeps with one eye open and one eye shut, sleeps under the snow and one animal who sleeps in the hollow of a tree.
Study the final illustration and the accompanying words which describe how this child sleeps and what this child dreams about when she sleeps. If there was a page in this book that described how you sleep what would it look like and what would it say about your dreams? Think about it. Then, draw a picture of you sleeping that would include what you wear, what your bed and blankets look like and what you take to bed with you for added comfort.
In this book the ant “dreams of dots marching in single file” and the robin “dreams of Spring.” What are your sweet dreams about when you sleep? Can you describe one of your sweet dreams in a written paragraph or by saying it aloud? Go ahead. Have fun!
