The Perfect Siesta

The Perfect Siesta
Pato Mena
NubeOcho, 2017. Picture Book.

Calling all sloth lovers! (And I know there are a lot of us.) This is a book for you! So, in the jungle the jaguar was hot and wanted to enjoy a cool breeze. He decided he wanted to take a nap so he told a coati in a tree to wake him up in ten minutes. Soon the coati wants to take a nap and convinces the cockatiel to be the alarm clock in ten minutes. However, the cockatiel decides that a nap sounds good and thus asks the sloth to alert everyone in ten minutes. You can guess what happens. The sloth is a sleepy creature…and just couldn’t help but fall asleep. (Good thing the sloth happens to make a very loud noise in her sleep.)

This is a fun story. I like that it introduces different animals into a child’s vocabulary. (Who knew what a coati was before reading this book?) I also enjoy the clever storyline where little ones can just guess what is about to happen (after seeing it happen the first time). This would be a great story to ask narrative questions to see if children can grasp foreshadowing clues. And…there are sloths! (Which I tend to like quite a bit.) Such fun!

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