Time to Sleep, Sheep the Sheep!

When I heard Mo Willems had a new series, it went on the order list automatically. I took a quick look when it came in...and was immediately charmed. A simple question and answer dialogue, with a strong rhythmic feel, marches through bold cartoon illustrations. With only a handful of words and lines, Willems creates a story that's full of child appeal, will tickle grownups' funnybones, and appeals to early readers. Quite a feat!

The main question about the Cat the Cat series is where to locate them in your library. They were nominated in the picturebook category for Cybils, and I've seen several libraries place them in that area.

I've read them aloud in storytime; I purchased a second copy of Cat the Cat for my backup toddler storytime. show more It's a perfect toddler storytime read, short, interactive, with nice bold pictures a large group can see. I've also read Time to Sleep Sheep the Sheep! aloud to a preschool audience and it takes this slightly older age to fully appreciate the humor at the end - and older kids think the repetitive names are hilarious. Giraffe the Giraffe anyone?

Then again, these books are perfectly suited for beginning readers, or "pre-readers" if you want to think of it that way; kids who are just starting to put letters together into words. The bold type and repeated simple words are perfect for this group. Most of the publicity and reviews categorize these as beginning or easy readers as well.

In my library, we ended up putting these into easy readers. They've been circulating briskly, but they're still on the new shelf so it will be a while until we know how they circulate when they're on the easy reader shelf.

Verdict: A must for your easy reader or picturebook area. Hey, why not buy two copies and put them in both places? show less

This book by Willems is a straightforward, streamline story that has a cat calling different animals to bed. She goes throughout the entire house telling Lion the Lion, Sheep the Sheep, and others to wind down so that they may all settle down for bed. A funny twist comes in when she approaches Owl the Owl, because he does not need to go to sleep (being that he is nocturnal).
As I have become exposed to Willems's work, I have found myself to be falling in love with his books. From his humorous writing to simple and bold imagery, he is able to capture the reader and hold their attention. With Time for Sleep, he is able to accomplish such things in such a short and condensed story line. What I appreciate from this story is that Willems had show more a consistent flow going with the story, by the character telling ____ the ____ "Time for sleep!" However, when she encounters a new animal, who is unique in the fact that he does not rest as the others do, this interruption serves to be a small learning experience for young readers and as a wonderful single example of variation within the story. show less

Noah and I read this one day just to earn a few extra points for the summer reading program. I was surprised that a book so obviously written to encourage emergent readers was also quite witty--find a bit of joke at the end of the book, both with the words and the illustrations (what the owl!)

Mo Willems creates another captivating early reader book that utilizes limited language and silly ilustrations that kids will want to read again and again. In this simple story the cat goes around and tells all the animals it is time to go to sleep. All except the Owl who wants someone to play with while the other animals sleep.
The repeated words of this story and the emphasis on ee words make this a great book to include for young readers when teaching this early reading skill.

This 4th installment in the popular beginner reader series,"Cat the cat.," finds Cat the cat helping her friends get ready for bed. As the friends go through a sequence of bedtime routines such as reading, bathing, brushing teeth, drinking a glass of water, and going to the bathroom, the repeated pattern and rhyming text will give new readers familar practice and build confidence in their decoding skills. Watch for clever comebacks from each animal - for example, when the horse sitting on the toilet is called for bedtime, he enthusiastically replies "I'm on it!" With very little text and a simple concept, Mo Willems gives new readers a story that is both purposeful and entertaining. Basal readers were never this clever!

This Cat the Cat Series book begins with Cat telling all of her animal friends to go to sleep. She begins with sheep, and then progresses to pig, giraffe, crab, horse, shark, and owl. When Cat gets to her friend Owl, she realizes that Owl sleeps during the day and is up at night. Looking at Owl, Cat begins to speak to tell Owl to tell Owl to sleep; however, Cat stops herself and says, "Nevermind..." Cat, Sheep, Pig, Giraffe, Crab, Horse, and Shark all go to sleep, while Owl stays awake. Owl looks around at his sleeping friends and asks, "Checkers, anyone?" Super cute book!

A paired down story about bedtime. Very cute, suitable for Kindergartners. I loved the simple and graphic illustrations.