“Book of Sleep” by Il Sung Na is a picture book intended for children ages 1-5 years (N). The book tells the story of how different animals sleep as compared to the owl. I gave this book a 4 star rating. I chose 4 stars only because of the illustrations. The book itself I would give 3 stars to but the illustrations are amazing. They are imaginative and unique, the pages could easily be ripped out and framed. “Book of Sleep” does its job effectively in conveying to the reader how the owl sleeps but the language is a bit dry, I wouldn’t say boring, just dry. I feel as though this book would be appealing to young readers for the fact that the illustrations are so eye catching. I also imagine it would be an easy book for children learning to read. It is a book composed of easy and understandable language. It only has 90 words spread out among 24 pages so it seems like a perfect beginner book for a young child. The theme of sleep and how every animal sleeps differently is interesting and the illustrations match well. I feel that children could learn a valuable lesson from the book in a sense that it implies everyone is different. My son enjoys looking at the pictures in this book and I think its a nice book to read before bedtime. Simple text describes many animals who are sleeping after dark while the owl watches--quiet sleepers, noisy ones, ones who sleep standing up, with one or both eyes open, etc. The stylized, illustrations ("created by combining handmade painterly textures with digitally generated layers, which were then compiled in Adobe Photoshop," according to the verso at the end of the book, which I take to mean the author used both original and computer generated drawings ) are airy, humorous (but not cartoony), and unusually attractive. Children will enjoy searching for the owl, who is there in every two page spread, except for the ending, when everyone wakes up in the bright sunshine and the owl finally goes to sleep.
What do You think about Zzzzz (2007)?
I really liked the artwork and the animals eyes. It's such a lovely children's book.
—Jayde
