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Sheep Don't Count Sheep
Sleep, little lamb, and dream your dream.
- GenresPicture BooksChildrens
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2003
About the author
Margaret Wise Brown
428 books1,379 followersMargaret Wise Brown wrote hundreds of books and stories during her life, but she is best known for Goodnight Moon and The Runaway Bunny. Even though she died nearly 70 years ago, her books still sell very well.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
Margaret loved animals. Most of her books have animals as characters in the story. She liked to write books that had a rhythm to them. Sometimes she would put a hard word into the story or poem. She thought this made children think harder when they are reading.
She wrote all the time. There are many scraps of paper where she quickly wrote down a story idea or a poem. She said she dreamed stories and then had to write them down in the morning before she forgot them.
She tried to write the way children wanted to hear a story, which often isn't the same way an adult would tell a story. She also taught illustrators to draw the way a child saw things. One time she gave two puppies to someone who was going to draw a book with that kind of dog. The illustrator painted many pictures one day and then fell asleep. When he woke up, the papers he painted on were bare. The puppies had licked all the paint off the paper.
Margaret died after surgery for a bursting appendix while in France. She had many friends who still miss her. They say she was a creative genius who made a room come to life with her excitement. Margaret saw herself as something else - a writer of songs and nonsense.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 8, 2025
Cool illustrator choices.
March 9, 2017
Part in rhyme and part in blank verse, there was a weird transition between the two that interrupted the flow of the story. Not a bad book, but not that great, either.
February 20, 2017
This is a very sweet bedtime story for toddlers and preschoolers.
February 26, 2014
Margaret Wise Brown is well known for Goodnight Moon. Sheep Don't Count Sheep is also a bedtime story. It starts out rhyming and sing song, then suddenly breaks the pattern, and at the end goes back to the first pattern. The last page has the music for the rhyming part. Unfortunately, I found the switches in style abrupt and disjointed. What started out as a soothing lullaby morphed into a completely different style of book.
The concept of trying to get a little lamb to go to sleep was endearing. He behaved much like a human child, too interested in everything happening around him to focus on sleep. If Brown had stuck to the same pattern, I would highly recommend this book, but as it is I don't find it that satisfying.
The title seemed misleading as well. It sounded as though the story would be a humorous one wherein we discover all the things that sheep do count instead.
The illustrations are done by Benrei Huang and have a dreamlike, glowing quality. The softness of the lamb is reflected in the moon and clouds, the butterflies and flowers, and even the landscape.
This picture book does not reach the same level of quality as Goodnight Moon. I feel it could've been so much more.
The concept of trying to get a little lamb to go to sleep was endearing. He behaved much like a human child, too interested in everything happening around him to focus on sleep. If Brown had stuck to the same pattern, I would highly recommend this book, but as it is I don't find it that satisfying.
The title seemed misleading as well. It sounded as though the story would be a humorous one wherein we discover all the things that sheep do count instead.
The illustrations are done by Benrei Huang and have a dreamlike, glowing quality. The softness of the lamb is reflected in the moon and clouds, the butterflies and flowers, and even the landscape.
This picture book does not reach the same level of quality as Goodnight Moon. I feel it could've been so much more.
November 25, 2016
This is an odd picture book. The text rhymes, then suddenly it doesn't anymore. There isn't much story here, even for a picture book. And the text is rather redundant. Illustrations are soft, comforting, and full of pastel colors.
July 22, 2008
Not one of Margaret Wise Brown's strongest, but still a cute, short bedtime story.
June 23, 2014
lullaby, good for pj storytime
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May 20, 2009JEAR2-Bro
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews