Where Do You Sleep, Little One?, by Patricia Hooper

Hooper, Patricia. Where Do You Sleep, Little One? Illustrated by John Winch. Holiday House, 2001.  40 pages. $16.95, ISBN 0-8234-1668-2

AGE LEVEL
1 and 2 year-olds

GENRE
Poetry

REVIEW 
On opening this lovely book, one is immediately secreted away into the woody and leafy bedtime world of animals and birds. On the endpapers, insects begin to scurry out from under leaves, followed by squirrels and mice poking out from behind bark and grass as the book itself begins. Artist John Winch has used oils,  handmade paper, and layered images to dramatic and completely unique effect. Patricia Hooper’s rhyming poem, suggestive of a lullaby, questions where a succession of animals sleep at night. For example, “Little fawn who ventures near, / Where are you when stars appear? / In the forest, dark and warm / I can slumber, far from harm.” The last scenes tenderly bring the child listener into the story, stating “Little pony, goat, and sheep, / What warm bed does someone keep….In our stable dreams are deep, / Little child. Now, go to sleep.” Although the phrases used to question each animal differ, the intent of the questions and the pattern of the answers is repeated each time, and there are few words on each page, making this a great choice for 1 and 2 year olds.  Children will be mesmerized by the textures and life in the arresting artwork.  An excellent choice to get one's own little ones ready for slumberland.

LIBRARY PROGRAMMING IDEAS
Pair this book with the following lullaby during toddler storytime:

          AUTUMN LULLABY 

          (With older two year-olds, you can use "darling" or another word 
          instead of "baby".)

          The sun has gone from the shining sky,
          Bye, baby, bye.
          The dandelions have closed their eyes,
          Bye, baby, bye.
          The stars are lighting their lamps to see,
          If babes and squirrels and birds and bees,
          Are fast asleep as they ought to be,
          Bye, baby, bye.