Sylvester Bear Overslept

by Jan Wahl, Lee Lorenz (Illustrator)

Sylvester Bear desperately wants to escape his wife's snoring but soon realizes it is truly music to his ears.

Genres: Picture Books

48 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1979

About the author

Jan Wahl was an American author best known for his imaginative and influential children’s books, which combined wit, warmth and a deep respect for young readers. Born in Columbus, Ohio, Wahl showed artistic promise early, performing piano on children’s radio programs and appearing on stage alongside legendary magician Harry Blackstone Sr. He studied at Cornell University, where he took classes with Vladimir Nabokov, and continued his education in Europe as a Fulbright scholar before completing graduate studies in the United States.
Wahl began publishing children’s books in the mid-1960s and quickly became a prolific and celebrated voice in the field, ultimately writing more than 120 works. Titles such as Pleasant Fieldmouse, The Furious Flycycle and Humphrey’s Bear earned him a devoted readership and critical acclaim. His stories were frequently illustrated by major artists, including Edward Gorey, Maurice Sendak and Mercer Mayer, and were praised for their playful tone, emotional intelligence and sense of empowerment.
Beyond writing, Wahl led an unusually rich cultural life, working with filmmakers, writers and artists, lecturing widely on film history and literature, and maintaining close ties to both the literary and cinematic worlds.

Reviews

[Gina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I must not have remembered this book as well as I thought, because the marriage love story was a total - and adorable - surprise.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh my goodness. Child me would have adored this. Jaded me says it's ok, but my inner child is so thankful for what can be found in Little Free Libraries. What do you miss out on when you oversleep? What do you do when you find your loved one gone? How do you learn to put up with your partner's snores? And how do the answers to all those questions add up to something funny??

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was kind of a sweet book about a bear named Sylvester who, with his wife Phyllis, setting down for a long winter's hibernation. The only problem is that Phyllis snores a lot and Sylvester can't get to sleep. Weeks pass and he still can manage hibernation. So he leaves and then falls asleep, but because he fell asleep late in the year he oversleeps when Phyllis wakes up and notices her husband gone, she sets out to find him, but when Sylvester wakes up and goes home and notices that Phyllis is gone out looking for him, he's determined to find her. In the end, they find each other, and Sylvester decides that even the qualities in a person that you don't like are better than missing out on the person you love, so you take the bad with the good. Pretty cute. My rating - 4/5

[bananananas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Was read this as a kid.

[Jeffrey · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story about a couple of bears, one of whom snores, and the other goes off to sleep somewhere else. When he does, he oversleeps.

Moral of the story: If your spouse snores, suck it up...

[Ashley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interest Level Grades K - 2
Genre: Fiction, Animals
Themes: Hibernation, Relationships
Uses: Casual reading for comprehension

[Corinne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute children's story about love overcoming annoyances