I Swim an Ocean in My Sleep [Library Binding]

Norma Farber (Author), Elivia Savadier (Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up

This nautical lullaby takes a young adventurer on a dreamy romp through an underwater playground. Merry mermaids, dancing lobsters, and five-fingered fish become his playmates in this tale written in lilting rhyme. Full-color illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 2. A boy sleeps and dreams of playing under the ocean with his many friends: a pink octopus, a whale, a mermaid, and a giant purple sea horse. The book starts as the child is swept off his bed into the flowing ocean current. Vibrant watercolors swirl in evocative, moody hues of purple and green while the boy, in his orange striped pajamas, looks like a John Burningham character ready to float into a highly charged adventure. And then, the tone changes. The colors no longer flow, and the backgrounds become denser and too cluttered, losing readers' ability to connect with the fantasy. It's not until the transition back to morning that the text and art work together once again to create a sense of poetry. While this book shows great promise, the balance between the art and text is inconsistent and the quality of both is uneven. Instead of feeling uplifted, readers may be left feeling overpowered.?Martha Topol, Traverse Area District Library, Traverse City, MI
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Farber (When It Snowed That Night, 1993, etc.) begins her sleeptime fantasy quietly: ``Night is dark,/Night is deep,/I swim an ocean in my sleep.'' In Savadier's whimsical ink and gouache illustrations, a small boy in red-striped pajamas swims through an imaginative underwater world. He plays with a mermaid, rides on a whale, and dances to the rhythm of a clamshell castanet. Finally he rises out of the water, clinging to a huge red balloon, for ``now it's time/to step once more/wakened on the morning shore.'' Especially appealing is the final picture of the sleep-tousled, bemused boy, sitting on a bed strewn with sand and seashells. There are nice moments in the text as well, but sometimes the perceptions of the author intrude, resulting in a narrative that wavers between the child's point of view and a more sophisticated perspective. (Picture book. 4-8) -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Library Binding: 32 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holth & Co (J); 1st edition (March 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805033815
• ISBN-13: 978-0805033816
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 10.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,676,688 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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