Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep [Hardcover]

Kimiko Kajikawa (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

In rhythmic words and affecting pictures, this inviting picture book introduces young children to a world of sleeping creatures. Some animals, like bats, sleep upside down, while others, like koalas and lions, snore up in the trees. Sharks, on the other hand, sleep with their eyes open wide so they won't miss a potential meal.

Animals large and small all have good reasons for sleeping the way they do, and Kimiko Kajikawa explores their particular and often humorous habits in this charming ode to bedtime.

 

Sweet Dreams is a 2000 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In unobtrusively rhyming captions and intimate photographs from a variety of sources, Kajikawa captures animals both wild and domestic asleep in their natural habitats. The creatures come from land and sea, and their bedtime practices are diverse. Lions, said to "sleep wherever they please," are shown draped languidly over the boughs of a tree; horses "stand up straight and tall"; sharks "rest with eyes open wide." The last spread includes photos of a napping baby and mom and of a young girl, while the text makes the anticipated overture to readers: "Everyone sleeps in a different way./ How will you go to sleep today?" The appealing book design gives equal space to the photos and to the facing captions, which are set on photo-sized blank ground; both captions and photos are bordered in nursery-room yellow with muted blue motifs. Cleverly, this book goes beyond standard bedtime fare with its ample and intriguing endnotes, which offer a detailed paragraph on each animal's sleeping habits. Thoughtfully conceived, attractively executed. Ages 4-7.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 2-"Orangutans doze in a bed of leaves./Lions sleep wherever they please." Some animals sleep standing up, some clutch their babies as they hug trees, and others sleep underwater in this photographic introduction. A dozen animals appear in full-page portraits, each facing a brief line of text phrased as part of a loosely rhymed couplet. Each page is attractively framed by white insets against soft yellow backgrounds. Animal names are set in bold decorative letters, offering young viewers a lovely beginning-to-read experience. Closing pages feature human sleepers and a set of questions inviting youngsters to think about their own sleep habits. A final picture glossary includes an informative paragraph about each animal. The murky underwater view of a heap of hippos is puzzling, but otherwise the book presents information effectively. The topic and pleasing pages also provide a fitting opportunity for using nonfiction as bedtime fare.
Margaret Bush, Simmons College, Boston
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR); 1st edition (April 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805058907
• ISBN-13: 978-0805058901
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 9.4 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,357,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Kimiko's true love of reading and writing began one day at her local library. Kimiko says, "My local librarian asked me if I had ever read Harriet the Spy. She said that it was a great book, and I immediately took it home. I read the entire book that day! I was so disappointed when it ended that I reread it immediately. I had to find a way to keep the spirit of Harriet the Spy alive with me, so I began to keep a journal. And spy on people. I did not follow anyone, but I would try to pick up what people were saying, and I would study their mannerisms. I think Harriet the Spy was the book that got me to write because I really started to look at the world and put down what I saw on paper."

By fifth grade, Kimiko won an essay contest sponsored by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her essay was about Abraham Lincoln and her victory earned her $3. At that moment, Kimiko concluded that, "Writing was a great way to make a living."

Kimiko won another writing contest when she was twelve, and this time she got to spend a day at the Bucks County Courier Times writing her own column. "I loved it. They took me around and introduced me to all the people that put the newspaper together. I felt like somebody special until they ran my photo in the paper. I was horrified that everyone at school would see it. I looked so nerdy!"

In high school, Kimiko was published in Seventeen Magazine. She was also the assistant editor and columnist for her high school newspaper. "At that point," Kimiko says, "I told my parents that I wanted to become a writer. My parents were unhappy with my decision. They told me that I should become a businesswoman instead."

Kimiko's mom is Japanese and her dad is American. Her parents met after World War II. They didn't even speak the same language when they were married.

Her mom was born in Tokyo in 1929. In an essay that Kimiko wrote when she was in eighth grade, she wrote, "There are no pictures of my mother when she was a child because they were all burned during the war. My mother was eleven years old when World War II started. She sometimes only had toothpaste to eat." During the war, Kimiko's mother lost nine relatives in one day during the bombing of Hiroshima. Soon after the war, Kimiko's grandmother died of cancer. The very next day, her aunt fell from a train and died from head injuries. Kimiko says, "My mom's life is filled with tragic stories that she rarely tells."

"In fact, my family has been the inspiration for most of my books. I credit my son, Chris, for starting my career as an author. When he was little, he fell in love with trains. What Chris wanted most in the world was a book with photographs of steam trains for young children. Fortunately, for me, that book didn't exist. After two years of searching, I decided to write and photograph the book that Chris so desperately wanted to read."

According to Kimiko, "Working on my books has helped me make sense of my life and helped me deal with the pain of growing up Eurasian. There were children in my neighborhood who wouldn't play with me when I was a kid. Some of them threw rocks at me and called me, "slanty eyes." Having grown up wishing I looked like most everyone else, I understand how important it is to give children an awareness and appreciation of our external differences and a realization that, underneath it all, we are very much the same. I feel that through teaching children to respect others we give them something even more important: self-respect."

"For several years, I have truly enjoyed reading old Japanese folklore and adapting those stories for an American audience. This is very therapeutic work for me. When I was little, I would go to sleep and wish that I would wake up looking like all the other kids. Now, I take pride in my heritage. Writing books has helped me grow as a person. It's very empowering. After all these years of feeling oppressed and ashamed of my background, I now feel that I can make a positive difference. "

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic bedtime story, January 21, 2007

By 

M. Wells "Loves her angel babies" (Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep (Hardcover)

My 6 year old daughter got this book from the library so many times that we had to buy it. It has great pictures of different animals sleeping and info on the animals in the back. It's really cute.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Author's Note, February 20, 2008

By 

Ted-san "Life is either a daring adventure or... (New Hope, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep (Hardcover)

I'm the author of this book, so I'll refrain from commenting about it! Mainly, I want to invite you to visit my web site: http//www.author4kids.com to find out more about me and my books. You'll also find my photo album, tips for writers, and lesson plans for teachers. Thanks so much for stopping by! Warmly, Kimiko Kajikawa :-)