Review - Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story

Winter Sleep: A Hibernation Story
by Sean Taylor & Alex Morss
illustrated by Cinyee Chiu
Date: 2019
Publisher: words & pictures
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

In this cozy bedtime story, follow a child and his grandma through a winter landscape to explore how the Earth goes to sleep for winter. Spot the sleeping animals as the tale unfolds, then learn about their hibernation habits from the information pages at the end.

Co-authors Sean Taylor (picture book author) and Alex Morss (ecologist, journalist, and educator) offer a gentle introduction to the concept of hibernation. In the frosty, quiet forest, the snow blankets the ground and the trees have shed their leaves. Where have all the animals gone? Are they asleep too?

In each cutaway scene, see what the child cannot—that underground below his feet are dens with sleeping creatures, and within the hollow trunks of trees, animals are nesting. After the story, annotated illustrations explain the hibernation facts for each animal and what they will do when they wake up for spring.

Cozy up as you expand you and your child's knowledge of the natural world.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book didn't really impress me. It might be fine for kids who are really interested in the subject of hibernation. While the non-fiction parts of the book are interesting enough, the story is kind of sparse.

This book is kind of a fiction/non-fiction hybrid. The first part is a story about a kid and their grandmother going into the woods and talking about hibernating animals, while the second part is more like a textbook with information about the hibernation habits of different creatures. I liked the first part better, even though it didn't have as much information. The second part just seemed like a bit of a slog to me. I wish that more of that factual information had been included in the story, rather than as a separate section at the back.

There are a number of typos and errors in the text (the dialogue paragraphs aren't punctuated correctly, for example) and the narrative overall is kind of dry. The illustrations are probably the strongest part of this book.

Overall, I didn't love this. However, if the technical errors are dealt with, this could be a good book to teach kids about the subject of hibernation.

Thank you to NetGalley and words & pictures for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Review - Humperdink Our Elephant Friend

Humperdink Our Elephant Friend
by Sean Taylor
illustrated by Claire Alexander
Date: 2019
Publisher: words & pictures
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

When Humperdink the baby elephant joins the children’s playgroup, he seems friendly enough, but it soon becomes clear that he’s not very good at the usual games the children play, like dressing up or hide-and-seek. When he breaks the children’s favorite slide, everyone feels sad. But with a little patience and understanding the children soon discover that Humperdink is good at some things–especially if they use their imaginations–leading to a riotously fun conclusion. A delightful picture book with endearing artwork and a humorous story to engage young readers and help them gain an understanding about those different from themselves. This title helps children learn the key skill of playing with and accepting new friends, whatever their size, shape... or species! Exploring themes of empathy and imaginative play, this title is a must-have for young readers seeking to understand the world around them.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is sort of a middle-of-the-road picture book for me. It's cute, but the story is a little too simple for my taste and there are a few technical issues with the writing.

I do kind of like the illustrations. They almost give the book a vintage sort of feel. But the diverse array of children depicted kind of give away the fact that this isn't a book from the 1960s. Humperdink the baby elephant is pretty cute himself, although one does need to suspend a bit of disbelief to imagine that a giant pachyderm was allowed into a playgroup with toddlers.

The story is fairly basic. When the elephant joins the playgroup, the kids try to teach him their favourite activities. But he can't fit into the dress-up clothes, he's terrible at hiding, and--oh, no!--he breaks the kids' favourite slide. With nothing to do, the kids ask Humperdink to show them what he enjoys... and he ends up taking them on an elephant-walk into the "jungle" outside. (I wasn't sure about this part at first. After reading it again, it seems to be an imaginary jungle, but since having an elephant in the playgroup is already pretty fantastical, I thought at first that the jungle might be real.)

This book could've used one more pass of an editor's red pen. I don't know why (maybe because someone thought it looked smarter), but words like "everyone" and "anymore" are separated into two words. Unfortunately, this changes the meaning and makes the sentences clunky and confusing. So I had to take off some points there. (This wouldn't be an issue if one was reading aloud to kids, though, so keep that in mind.)

Overall, I wasn't blown away by Humperdink Our Elephant Friend, but it's entertaining enough and will probably appeal to small children. Adults, however, will probably leave with at least one unanswered question: Did the grownups in charge ever fix the kids' slide?

Thank you to NetGalley and words & pictures for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5