SLEEPY

Down time comes in many forms, as this somniferously illustrated survey of the natural world reveals.

Though all the sleepy faces and figures in Caldecott Honoree Page’s exactly detailed, collagelike digital illustrations may cumulatively have a soporific effect, Ward has shocking news for readers who think lying down and remaining unconscious through the night—called “monophasic sleep”—is uniform practice in the animal kingdom. In fact, drawing on 16 examples, she identifies several sleeplike processes, from the hibernation of bears and equivalent states, such as brumation and estivation, to the half-brain-at-a-time shutdowns (“unihemispheric slow-wave sleep”) of whales and dolphins. Animals also sleep for varying amounts of time; giraffes nap for only about five minutes at a time, whereas little brown bats sack out for 20 hours a day, and koalas for even more. All of this information is presented in both digestible bits throughout and in a closing summation that includes pie charts for human sleep needs at different ages. With an eye to bedtime read-alouds, the author also pairs each somnolent portrait with a drowsy verse like this one, addressed to a tan-skinned young snoozer: “Child, / at sunrise you are on the go! / But once it’s dark, it’s time to slow / and snuggle, sleeping through the night, / while waiting for the morning light.”

A real eye-opener.