Sleepy, Oh So Sleepy by Denise Fleming

One sleepy animal after another is shown with the refrain of “sleep, oh so sleepy.”  The words form a lulling rocking feel, perfect for bedtime.  Every three animals, a line is added: “Where’s my sleepy baby?”  It completes the story, drawing the child into the book.  The animals are far from barnyard livestock, instead they are anteaters, elephants, koalas, orangutans and many exotic beasts.  Fleming’s illustrations are equally soothing with their soft lines and velvety textures.  A beautiful bedtime book for every family.

As you can see from the cover, it is Fleming’s art that is the real star here.  The book is done in double-spreads with large images.  Fleming creates her images with pulp painting, a papermaking technique that lends it a very interesting style and feel.  It creates a depth of color that brings additional dimension to the illustrations. Far from flat, each color contains specks of other colors and a direct relationship to the colors near them.  It is a soft, but never muted, form of illustration that is very successful here.

Highly recommended, this drowsy book will appeal to parents and babies alike.  Appropriate for 0-2.

Reviewed from copy received from Henry Holt.