A Salute To Slumber

By its very definition a festival is a call to celebrate.  It's an opportunity for people to band together to enjoy a shared passion, to commemorate a person, place, thing or event or to pause in their everyday lives for a much needed holiday.  Whether it lasts for a single day or a week, a festival is generally filled with laughter, music, dancing and ... NOISE.


What's that you say?  There's a gala dedicated to napping, dozing and dreaming?  SnoozeFEST (Dial Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) LLC, January 22, 2015) written by Samantha Berger with illustrations by Kristyna Litten is a joyful look at a sloth whose success at sleeping is unparalleled.

In the center of Snoozeville, dwells the wee one,
the sleepiest sloth, Snuggleford Cuddlebun.

It seems Snuggleford Cuddlebun is one of nature's finest when it comes to rest.  The only thing ever to halt her deep repose is an annual ticket to SNOOZEFEST.  She packs her essentials ready to ride the bus,

right in front of her home,

to the famous NuzzleDome.

Eager patrons patiently wait to enter the arena and then seek to settle in a spot right for the show.  They've gathered their pillows, quilts and cuddliest toys.  The variety of blankets is a sight to see; all of them named with great affection.

Once Snuggleford Cuddlebun locates a splendid nest swaying between two trees, she gathers memorabilia from vendors and makes sure to secure a savory cup of milk and honey to sip.  Now cozily comfortable, she watches with the others as a P. J. Parade of opulent proportions winds through the park.  When it's time for the bands to play, the radiant glare is no more; little lights from the audience blink and beam like a firefly convention.

First one act, then another take the stage and even more singing, playing and reciting poetic words of quiet and calm lull the listeners.  Sweet Snuggleford Cuddlebun drifts into dreamland, content in her hammock.  This sloth is sleeping through all the soothing sounds.

It comes as no surprise to anyone to see Sunggleford Cuddlebun wake last as days later the program comes to a close.  She collects her things, heading home on the very same bus.  Happy but exhausted in the comfort of her abode, she does what Snuggleford Cuddlebun does best.


Readers and listeners will thoroughly relish the way the words of Samantha Berger roll off their tongues.  The rhythm of her rhymes will have you burrowing under a cushy comforter in no time at all.  Sleep-inducing allusions welcome you to join in this fest dedicated to silence and siestas.  The names given to the bands will have you smiling; Nocturnal Nesters, Tranquility Trio or Deep Hiber-Nation.  Here is a sample passage.

It's dreamy to see the stuff everyone brings---
their wumphiest, coziest, comfiest things.
Bundles of blankets and fluffed feather beds---
puffy poofed pillows to prop up their heads.


The deep blues and purples surrounding Snuggleford Cuddlebun all nestled in her hammock between two trees wound with lights, looking down on the festivities, is enough to make you want to ask her if there's room for two.  The soft curve of her smile as she holds her teddy bear sends out a feeling of total bliss.  The second portion of the title, like a concert marquee, is a stroke of design brilliance.  On the back, to the left, the first band is on stage, harp playing and counting sheep.  Squares of fabric pieced together like a quilt lay patterned across the opening and closing endpapers.  The concert theme is continued for the verso, dedications and title page with tickets holding the text.

A warm palette of rich light blue, turquoise, green, red, orange, yellow and brown with a cast of dusk-like hues at night are awash with life. Digitally rendered illustrations by Kristyna Litten colorfully compliment the narrative varying in size from two pages to smaller images liberally framed with white space grouped together to show the passage of time.  Details define the characters and the SnoozeFEST; the matryoshka doll next to Snuggleford Cuddlebun's bed, the poster for the band, Hiber-Nation tacked to a tree, Snuggleford Cuddlebun's bedtime book, Big Bear, Big Sleep, and the signs held during the P. J. Parade, Alexander McDream and Louis Futon.  

One of my favorite illustrations is the panoramic view of the SnoozeFEST after the lights have been dimmed inside The NuzzleDome.  It's as if we are looking from another hammock on another side, seeing Snuggleford Cuddlebun to our left with an array of cozy resting places spread before us as members of the audience mingle below.  In the center of the right portion the stage is nearly empty as a worker cleans it a final time before the first performance.  Lights are strung from tree to tree glowing in the dark.


If you are ready to rest with a smile on your face, filled with dreams of gentle cheer, SnoozeFEST written by Samantha Berger with illustrations by Kristyna Litten is the book for you.  Word choices will sing you to sleep and illustrations will wrap you in pure contentment.  Grab your pajamas, pillows and snuggly blankets; I see a festival in your feature and snores galore.

To discover more about Samantha Berger and Kristyna Litten please follow the links attached to their names to visit their websites.  This link takes you to Samantha Berger's blog where she shows her promotional posts for this title.  Author and illustration Debbie Ridpath Ohi interviews Samantha Berger on her blog, Inkygirl.com  Matthew C. Winner, a busy enthusiastic teacher librarian interviews Samantha Berger at Let's Get Busy Podcast #116.  Enjoy the book trailer.

Slow But Sure

For several years during a study of the rain forest, our students were treated to seeing some of the inhabitants of this biome.  Rather than being in a large venue, the keepers brought them into a classroom.  To be able to see these beautiful animals up-close was an unforgettable experience for our students (and for me too).  One of the most fascinating of all the creatures was the sloth.  Sleeping during the entire presentation, we were able to see all the special features on this unique being.

I often wonder how many of the students were thinking what I was thinking when seeing the sloth; what if we lived where they lived so we could see them as often as we see squirrels, rabbits or deer?  In Sparky! (Schwartz & Wade Books) written by Jenny Offill with illustrations by Chris Appelhans, a girl takes definite actions on her thoughts regarding a sloth.

I wanted a pet.
A bird or a bunny or a trained seal.

When approaching her mother with requests for each of these pets, her mother replies in the negative... repeatedly.  In an effort to convey her true desire for no pet all, her mother says

You can have any pet you want as long as it doesn't need to be walked or bathed or fed. 

That certainly narrows down her options but her mother did promise.  Luckily she has a super smart school librarian.  In the book given to her she discovers a picture and description of a sloth.  Wasting no time she orders this creature.  Guess who is not overjoyed at the sloth's arrival at their home?

Carrying her new friend, who she names Sparky, outside, placing him on tree branch, she makes sure to announce his presence with a Guard Sloth! sign.  He tends to sleep quite a bit making his skills at games less than stellar except for Statue (my smile grew to a grin at this point).  A rather irritating girl, Mary Potts, comes over to scoop out this neighborhood novelty.  Her unkind remarks cause the girl to advertise Sparky's numerable accomplishments with a talent show.

Her efforts all week to prepare Sparky for the Trained Sloth Extravaganza, while intense on her part, move with Sparky's own particular brand of speed.  On the day of the show Sparky performs to perfection as only he can.  When everyone, three guests including her mother, leaves the girl starts another game with her companion knowing the conclusion may come slowly.  That's her deepest hope.


Within the reading of the first two sentences you know a whisper of humor will be running through the narrative.  Author Jenny Offill maintains this feeling until the final sequence but as the story evolves something becomes even more apparent; a respectful acceptance and enduring affection between the girl and the sloth.  Her characters, the mother, the girl, the librarian, Mary Potts, Mrs. Edwin and the sloth, are wonderfully normal; sometimes described with a single sentence or bit of conversation.
Due to Offill's word choices in these limited depictions we know everything we need to know about them, feeling an emotional response or connection.  Here is a sample passage.

We stood there for a while, watching him sleep.  His fur ruffled gently in the breeze.
"I feel sorry for you", Mary said.  "My cat can dance on her hind legs.  And my parrot knows twenty words, including God and ice cream."


Using watercolor and pencil, illustrator Chris Appelhans creates pictures filled with warmth and charm.  The initial view of Sparky on the dust jacket and matching book case makes you want to hug him.  On the back the four vignettes of the girl with him make you want to hug her.  Endpapers in shades of soft brown, rose and green feature a pattern of grasses.

Thick creamy paper supplies the background for all the visuals using the same hues as the endpapers with darker rose red for increased emphasis.  Appelhans changes the size of his pictures to compliment and extend the narrative; images may be individual elements on a page, cover a portion of a page, and extend edge to edge on a single page or two pages.  When I saw how he pictured the girl as a ringmaster wearing a cape made from the same fabric as the curtain with a colander on her head, the tenderness and admiration I felt for this girl increased by leaps and bounds.  Clearly she is as much an individual as her sloth.  The font for this book was designed from Appelhans' hand lettering.

I have many favorite illustrations in this title but the final double-page spread is gorgeous.  On the left is Sparky's tree.  He is lying on the branch with the girl next to him, her hand extended to his head. The colander is hanging on the end. Beneath them and to the right is the setting sun.


Sparky! written by Jenny Offill with illustrations by Chris Appelhans is enchanting for the words, the pictures and the beautiful combination of the two.  This sloth and his girl will win a place in your heart.   Be sure to read it to every child you know...as often as you can.

If you wish to know more about either the author or the illustrator follow the links embedded in their names to their official websites.  This link to the publisher's website will give you a glimpse at interior pages in the book. If you go to the Random House Kids pages for Sparky! there are oodles of activities, printable bookmarks, different pages to see from inside the book and a Q & A with the author and illustrator.  Yesterday John Schumacher, teacher librarian and blogger at Watch. Connect. Read. hosted Chris Appelhans at his site.  Colby Sharp, teacher and blogger at Sharpread highlighted Jenny Offill. Make sure you read both of the interviews.