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The first few pages begin with 'Slowly, slowly, slowly'..........
* a sloth crawled along a branch
* the sloth ate a leaf
* the sloth fell asleep
* the sloth woke up
Meanwhile a host of animals native to the rainforest pass by him.
All day and all night long the sloth hangs ... Read review
Advantages: A thought provoking story relating to a sloth, some interesting vocabulary and brilliant illustrations. Disadvantages: None
...few pages begin with 'Slowly, slowly, slowly'..........
* a sloth crawled along a branch
* the sloth ate a leaf
* the sloth fell asleep
* the sloth woke up
Meanwhile a host of animals native to the rainforest pass by him.
All day and all night long the sloth hangs upside down in the tree, he evens adopts this position during a tropical downpour.
Eventually different animals ... ...I like to do things slowly, slowly, slowly."
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Illustrations
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Eric Carle's illustrations in this book are outstanding. He depicts the colourful beauty of the tropical rainforest so well that you can absorb yourself in the drawings.
This is perhaps a less well-known children's picture book by Eric Carle which is a shame as it's educational value is brilliant. We are studying animals in different climates at the moment and the children I read it to last week really enjoyed it as it made a change to the ones they have been listening to since pre-school!!
********************************************************************* The story ********************************************************************* This is set deep in the tropical rainforest and is all about a South American tree sloth.The first few pages begin with 'Slowly, slowly, slowly'..........
a sloth crawled along a branch
the sloth ate a leaf
the sloth fell asleep
the sloth woke up
Meanwhile a host of animals native to the rainforest pass by him.All day and all night long the sloth hangs upside down in the tree, he evens adopts this position during a tropical downpour.Eventually different animals begin to ask the sloth questions:
the howler monkey asks "Why are you so slow?"
the caiman asks "Why are you so quiet?"
the anteater asks "Why are you so boring?"
But the sloth doesn't bother to reply, until one day the jaguar asks "Why are you so lazy?" After thinking for a long, long, long time, the sloth comes out with a very long response which has some very unusual and quite advanced vocabulary in it: He tells the jaguar that it's true that he is slow, quiet and boring. He's unflappable, impassive, lethargic, placid, mellow etc BUT IS NOT LAZY!! " I like to do things slowly, slowly, slowly."********************************************************************** Illustrations ********************************************************************** Eric Carle's illustrations in this book are outstanding. He depicts the colourful beauty of the tropical rainforest so well that you can absorb yourself in the drawings.
He uses his trademark collage style of illustrations and each page is drenched in wonderful colours that represent the rainforest.
The illustrations are not only bright and colourful but full of detail with opportunities to discuss the different animals that pass by the sloth.
I have read so many of Carle's books, but for me these are the best illustrations by far!
********************************************************************** Style and Format ********************************************************************** Each page has very limited text on it which reinforces the slow pace of the sloth. That is until the sloth responds to the jaguar's question with a huge list of adjectives to describe his characteristics.
The use of simple repeated phrases like 'Slowly, slowly, slowly' is great for encouraging young children to join in with the story.
There is a foreword by the renowned zoologist Jane Goodall in which she details a host of facts about the sloth, e.g. how they can sleep between 15 and 19 hours per day, their swimming abilities and how they can turn their heads about 270 degrees etcAt the back of the book there is a double page full of the creatures that are seen in the main body of the book along with their names. This is a huge bonus for me as I'm no zoologist and have to admit that I'm not great with the names of rainforest animals. They include:
poison dart frog
peccary
puma
spider monkey
caiman
hummingbird
********************************************************************** Educational Value ********************************************************************** * It encourages young children to join in with the reptitive text. * It is absolutely brilliant in introducing some unusual and not so 'run-of-the-mill' animals. * I have had this book for a couple of weeks now and have used it with 4 - 5 year olds in our study of animals in different climates and also with 7 -8 year olds in a Literacy lesson to introduce adjectives as some very unusual vocabulary is used by Carle when the sloth is describing his characteristics, e.g. languid, unflappable, stoic etc... * It is great for introducing children to a different environment, in this case the rainforest. * The message within the book can be discussed with different age groups at different levels of depth........the overall message is, slow down and enjoy life, which is a great one in this fast-moving sometimes chaotic world we live in. A good message for adults too!! * For any budding zoologists, the foreword by Jane Goodall offers a very comprehensive outline of the sloth's nature and characteristics etc. It also enables you to discuss with slightly older children the dangers that the sloth and other animals within the rainforest face by the destruction of their habitat.********************************************************************** Price ********************************************************************** I paid £5.99 for my paperback copy as of March 2006 (ISBN: 0-14-056924-3)
Amazon has used and new paperbacks from £2.43 and hardcovers from £2.32 but just watch out for the P&P charges!
********************************************************************** Eric Carle ********************************************************************** I am a huge fan of Eric Carle books. He is a world-famous author and illustrator of children's picture books, a few of which I have listed below: * Does a kangaroo have a mother too? * The mixed-up chameleon * Today is Monday * Rooster's off to see the world * The tiny seed * The very hungry caterpillar * The bad-tempered ladybird
I have used all of the above and many more with young children and they have never failed to be a 'hit'!
New to me until a couple of weeks ago, this has in my opinion, surpassed some of Carle's earlier works. It really is an outstanding book!!
