We're Not Sleepy! by Joanne Partis

We're Not Sleepy! by Joanne Partis
Buy We're Not Sleepy! by Joanne Partis at Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.com
Category: For Sharing
Reviewer: Keith Dudhnath
Summary: A charming counting and bedtime book set on a farmyard - all common themes, but We're Not Sleepy! does everything it sets out to achieve with plenty of heart. Recommended.
Buy? Yes	Borrow? Yes
Pages: 32	Date: March 2011
Publisher: OUP Oxford
External links: Author's website
ISBN: 978-0192731623
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It's bedtime, but the three little kittens aren't sleepy. Mum suggests that they count sheep, so they head out to the farmyard to find sheep to count. They find one shaggy sheepdog, two munching cows, three playful foxes, and so on.

Counting books and farmyard books are both very common, but We're Not Sleepy! still feels fresh. It achieves everything it sets out to do, and does so with charm and quality. It's ideal for reading as a bedtime book as well as to build familiarity with numbers and animals. When you get to the end and the little kittens are snoring their heads off, you can also head back to spot the sneaky sheep on every page, Where's Wally? style - it's a simple touch that adds extra interest to the tale.

As in Joanne Partis' earlier work, My Cat Just Sleeps, suits the tale perfectly. The animals are bright, bold, cute and enticing for the young audience. Counting the animals is the priority on each page, but the backgrounds still create the atmosphere of a lovely farmyard. The style might be simple and direct, but there's nothing to find fault with.

The vocabulary is, as you'd expect, accessible for the very youngest book fans, but with plenty of interesting adjectives and animal noises to spice things up. As with all animal books, it's down to the reader to do all the noises and act it out - clucks and quacks and boings and squeaks! Whilst there's nothing to especially pinpoint to recommend We're Not Sleepy! above and beyond all other counting books, it's a good, solid addition to any bookshelf that does everything right. Recommended.

My thanks to the publishers for sending it to Bookbag.

For other counting books, check out The Newt In The Suit by Andrew Weale and Margaret Chamberlain, The Selfish Crocodile Counting Book by Faustin Charles and Michael Terry, What's in the Fridge? by Gaby Goldsack and Jo Moon and It Was Bedtime In The Jungle by John Butler. For bedtime books, take a look at our Top Ten Picture Books For Overcoming Bedtime Woes and Best Bedtime Stories Ever by Richard Scarry.

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You can read more book reviews or buy We're Not Sleepy! by Joanne Partis at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy We're Not Sleepy! by Joanne Partis at Amazon.com.

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