time to sleep written by steve jenkins & robin page and illustrated by steve jenkins

Jenkins, Steve, and Robin Page. Time to Sleep. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. ISBN: 9780547250403

Plot Summary:

     Time to Sleep comprises of the sleeping habits of fifteen different animals found throughout the world. Each description details varying aspects unique to each animal's sleeping habits. From the different habitats to the lengths of sleep that each animal gets, the descriptions result in providing readers with new insight on how different animals sleep. 

Critical Analysis:

     Time to Sleep is a form of conceptual nonfiction created through the collaboration of author Steve Jenkins and illustrator Robin Page. This married duo have provided readers with insight answering why and how animals sleep by organizing Robin's vibrant illustrations and Jenkins' details and descriptions in a manner displaying clear sequence. The concept of this book originated from their own children who would ask many questions regarding animals' sleeping habits. 

     Jenkins introduces this book with a narrative explaining that animals need sleep just like people. From this point, Jenkins explores the sleeping habits of fifteen different animals in a manner that is comprehensible to an audience of children through the usage of an age appropriate vocabulary. Each description of an individual animal's sleeping habit is paired with an illustration of that particular animal. Robin Page's usage of cut and torn paper collage to depict and illustrate the animal described through the author's words captivates readers' attention. Page's illustrative style clearly depicts the animal and how it sleeps by the display of vibrant colors and details of each animal with the help of Jenkins' written content. 

Awards Won:

Outstanding Science Trade Books, ALA Notable Children's Books (2000), Boston Globe-Horn Book Award for nonfiction (1998), Caldecott Medal (2014)

Review Excerpts:

"As companion to their books on bathing and eating, Jenkins and Page here discuss how and where seventeen different creatures sleep. In a smaller size than their usual books, they offer brief information and illustrations on single or double pages, usually accompanied by a humorous comment. Included are the giraffe, the hairy armadillo, the red fox, bee-eaters, the basilisk, the flamingo, the parrotfish, the warthog, the green sea turtle, the white stork, the European hedgehog, the wood frog, long-horned bees, the koala, the walrus, the bottlenose dolphin, and gorillas. Somehow the sleepy basilisk and equally drowsy koala can balance in trees. The wood frog and hedgehog need a longer rest and find places to hibernate. All the characters, sometimes with their resting places, are beautifully and naturalistically recreated from torn-and cut-paper collage." - Children's Literature

"Jenkins and Page introduce an array of creatures, showcasing how they bathe and sleep. Both titles conclude with an appendix detailing further information about the featured animals. The illustrations are rendered in torn- and cut-paper collage, with each animal is set against a white background. The brief text floats nearby, resulting in a pleasant balance that focuses on the creature in question. In Bath, readers are informed that animals bathe for different reasons: to clean themselves, to cool off, to warm up, and to dissuade parasites. A "vulture takes a sunbath. The sun's warmth feels good, and the sunlight helps kill bacteria." The gecko, lacking eyelids, keeps its eyeballs dirt-free by licking them with "its long, flexible tongue." Sleep introduces animals from the familiar red fox to the lesser-known basilisk. Fascinating behaviors are detailed with explanations, such as the "white stork sleeps in flight…by taking a series of naps that last just a few seconds each." Among the myriad curiosities is the bottlenose dolphin: "one half of its brain stays awake to tell the dolphin when it's time to surface and take a breath." Readers will be captivated." - School Library Journal

Connections:

More nonfiction titles written by Steve Jenkins include: Time to Eat, Time for a Bath, and Never Smile at a Monkey. 

Interactivity:

• As each animal's sleeping method is described, have children demonstrate what was described.
• Ask children how long they sleep and what their bedtimes are.
• Educate children the importance of sleep and why we sleep.