So Sleepy Story

by Uri Shulevitz

In a sleepy sleepy house everything is so sleepy – until music drifts in through an open window. Chairs begin to rock, dishes begin to dance, and a sleepy boy opens his eyes to the revelry of the once-sleepy house. Then, softly, the music drifts out, and everything is sleepy sleepy once more. With his soothing text and gentle, whimsical illustrations, Uri Shulevitz has created the ultimate sleepy sleepy bedtime story. So Sleepy Story is a 2006 New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Storytime, Animals, Music, Fantasy, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Uri Shulevitz was an American writer and illustrator of children's books. He won the 1969 Caldecott Medal for U.S. picture book illustration, recognizing The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship, an Eastern European fairy tale retold by Arthur Ransome in 1916.

Reviews

[Calista · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sleepy tale. Everything is bathed in soothing blues and it has the hush of sleep around the story. We see a sleepy house, and chairs and table and dishes. Until the Cuckoo Coo clock rings out a melody that gets everything dancing for a few minutes and then the house returns to sleepy. The story made me sleepy. It was great.

I love the artwork, the poem it was told as and the tone of the book. There isn’t a whole lot happening in the story which is why my nephew hated this book. He did think the faces on the furniture were cute, but he said it was boring. He needed more stimulation is my thinking which is why he didn’t like it. He did settle and go to sleep after. He gave this 1 star. The boy went to sleep so I think the tale is worth its weight in gold.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, I wasn't sure I would like this one at first but it won me over by the end! It is deceptively simple, but gosh, it is so effective! I felt sleepy, so sleepy, after I read it, haha! The real charm is in the illustrations with all the furniture and creatures in the house being sleepy, then waking to some inspiring music, then going back to sleep. A nice change from the usual bedtime stories :-)

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a midnight dance-party, followed by slumber in this sleepiest of houses. I loved the author's illustrations, but I'm a big fan of inanimate objects with faces.

[Ronyell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uri Shulevitz, who is well known for illustrating the Caldecott Medal Award-winning book, “The Fool of the World and the Flying Ship,” has illustrated a cute picture book called “So Sleepy Story,” which is about a sleepy house full of sleepy occupants. “So Sleepy Story” may have a simplistic story, but Uri Shulevitz’s illustrations make this book worth reading!

There was once a sleepy, sleepy house where there was a sleepy table, sleepy chairs, sleepy pictures, sleepy cuckoo-clock, sleepy walls, sleepy dishes, sleepy shelves, a sleepy chair with a sleepy cat on it and a sleepy boy. Everyone’s sleeping until some colorful musical notes come in through the window…

Uri Shulevitz has done a great job with illustrating this book as it is both surreal and creative at the same time. I loved the way that Uri Shulevitz draws sleepy faces on everything, including the furniture and the trees (even though the idea of having mysterious eyes on you while you are sleeping sounds a little creepy, but this is a fantasy children’s book, right?). I also loved the way that Uri Shulevitz illustrates the sleepy world in dull colors, like blue, black and grey, and when the colorful musical notes come pouring into the house, the images become more colorful and vibrant as the musical notes fills the sleepy house with music. I also loved the way that Uri Shulevitz makes this book about a whole house of occupants fall asleep until music comes in, since this plot strongly reminds me of Audrey Wood’s “The Napping House” except that “The Napping House” does not have various faces plastered on walls and all matter of furniture!

Now the reason why I did not give this book a five star rating is because I thought that the story was a bit too simplistic for my tastes as there was nothing spectacular about the story. I mean, I liked the idea about various furniture having faces indicating that they are sleepy, but the way that the story is worded such as this phrase: “Sleepy chairs by sleepy table, sleepy pictures on sleepy walls, sleepy cuckoo-clock by sleepy dishes on sleepy shelves and a sleepy cat on a sleepy chair, ” sort of made this story lack an actual plot as it was “sleepy” this and “sleepy” that, meaning that the book overused the word “sleepy” and it seems like this story was not going anywhere.

Overall, “So Sleepy Story” might have a simplistic story that might bore some children, but the illustrations alone made this book a treat to read over and over again! I would recommend this book to children ages three and up since the wording not too complicated for smaller children to understand.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Such a “simple story” this is, but it’s rather effective, although the music in the middle was a bit discombobulating, which I guess is the point, but it might reduce the efficacy of this book inducing sleepiness in young ones adults are trying to get to go to sleep.

The dark blue and neutral colors are perfect for a bedtime story, is the continued references to sleepy everything. The illustrations are fun. I particularly enjoyed the sleeping cat in the sleeping chair and the colorful music. All the smiling plates and other items reminded me a bit of the movie Beauty and the Beast.

The author-illustrator’s bio section is in the unconventional location of the inside front cover of the book. No surprise that he lives in an area, as do I, where sounds, including music, are heard from outside all night long, “keeping him wide-awake instead of sleepy sleepy.”

I’m not wild about this book but it was pleasant enough. I can’t evaluate how effective it might be in inducing sleepiness because I was already sleep when I read it, but I suspect it might help some kids get to sleep.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun and silly story to read at bedtime. Except for the middle, the book has very somber, quiet pictures and sleepy people and things. I can see this book being useful to help a child get her wiggles out and then settle down for bedtime.

The deep blues and sepia tones lend themselves to a quiet, sleepy mood. We enjoyed reading this book together and we've read it a few times.

[LuAnn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book because I saw a place for it and I like the author's other works, but I would have liked this one better had the order of the story been different. The book starts out sleepy sleepy sleepy, then wakes up in the middle, then goes back to sleepy sleepy sleepy. If this is truly a bedtime book, then the agitation in the middle of the story wakes the child back up too much, especially if mom wants them to go to sleep. I like books for my youngest that are soothing, and this one breaks that pattern a little too much.

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young boy is asleep in a sleepy house with sleepy dishes and a sleepy clock. Music begins to drift in the window and begins to get louder and louder until the house and it's contents begins to shake, rock, sway and dance. All of a sudden a dish hits the floor and wakes everyone up. The house and it's various pieces and parts dance to the music until it finally drifts away. Then the boy falls back to sleep as does the house and it's contents.

Classic Uri Shulevitz.

[Angela Hutchinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out sleepy. Everything is sleepy; the chairs, the dishes, even the bed. Then, the music drifts in and everything awakes. There are two pages of what seems like the house and its contents are all dancing around, until he music fades and all goes back to sleep. This is a short and simple book that would be good for young readers. I like the illustrations; it reminds me of the Beauty and the Beast and how the dishes dance around.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Much too young for the K-5 age group. And actually a couple of pages would make it a little hard (maybe boring, depending on the storyteller) of reading aloud. I like the illustrations. They're simple and pretty good at conveying sleepiness and the random not sleepiness. I'm guessing this would be a good bedtime story because it could certainly be told in such a way to cause drowsiness.

[Patty · Rating 1 out of 5]

Illustrator: Uri Shulevitz
Age: Baby-5
Summary: A story about going to sleep, all of the things in the house are alive and going to sleep/waking up.
Applications/Uses: Could be read before bed at night, but no real use in the classroom (words/story/illustrations do not have much merit.)
Themes/Connections: Sleeping, nighttime
Awards: None

[Lesley Looper · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the illustrations in this book, with the dark, sleepy colors at the beginning and end, and the more lively colors of music and dancing in the middle. Though not my favorite Shulevitz book, it's still a good one.

[Allison · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a GREAT pre-naptime story! Jordan and I were able to "read" it together, and I loved the slightly spooky (slightly Munch-esque) sleepy illustrations. The rhythm of this story lended itself to very expressive reading, and we both loved it.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I didn't like the illustrations...they seemed a little bit creepy, especially for a bedtime story. But once the music comes in through the window, I liked the story and illustrations. Simple text, but with an original twist. Fun!

[Paul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shulevitz has been growing on me, but SO SLEEPY STORY didn't capture my imagination. The drawings have his playfulness and there's a little whimsy thrown in - see some of Shulevitz's book on the sleepy sleepy boy's bedroom bookshelf - but it ends up being just a drowsy book (no pun intended).

[Linda Lipko · Rating 2 out of 5]

While not my favorite of Shulevitz, it is worthy of a high honorable mention.

The illusrations of a sleepy house are marvelous. Even the dishes are asleep.

When soft musical notes float in the window, the sleepy items awake and tables dance, chairs rock and the house and items dance

[Joseph · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun illustrations and very appropriately detailed. The book itself is cute and quiet. The music really does stir everything up a little bit. Not a huge fan of the story, but a big fan of the illustrations.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect book to lull any child (or adult!) to sleep, the illustrations, text and blue tones are incredibly soothing and relaxing.

[Debrarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Uri Shulevitz always makes such lovely, animated books.

[Truman Green · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great good night book for children

[Erica · Rating 2 out of 5]

My daughter was thoroughly confused by the sudden appearance and disappearance of the music in this one. There was no explicable source and no reason for it, so she was baffled. I agree.

[Maren · Rating 3 out of 5]

My daughter likes me to read this one to her over and over, so it's safe to assume that she likes it. I yawn everytime I read it, so maybe it would be a best to read as a bedtime story.

[Ame · Rating 3 out of 5]

But...where did the music come from!?

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not bad, but I don’t really see the point.

[Misbah · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bedtime story where the child can say goodnight to all the furniture in the house, before finally saying goodnight to being awake.

Honestly, the faces on all the furniture were a little creepy.

[John Mullarkey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title says it all - this is a book perfect for a bedtime read aloud. It is "everything" sleepy - a sleepy house with sleepy furniture, pictures, dishes, cat, and a boy. The colors add to the soothing atmosphere; that is until some colorful and playful music drifts into the window and stirs everyone inside until it subsides, and it is back to being: sleepy. The illustrations are the focus here - all of the occupants of the sleepy house have expression and are all lulled to sleep. It is a fun read aloud and perfect for a nap time as well.

[Rachel B. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I induced young child eyelid drooping when I read this book in a quiet whispery voice that got louder and more sing-song-y during the middle and then quiet and whispery again towards the end. It worked!!! Good bedtime reading.

[Zachary McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how the illustrations of this book reflect the words so well. When the house and everyone in it is sleepy you see that in the pictures as well as when they are dancing. It makes for an engaging and interesting story.

[Abby Peskin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Everyone in the home is sleepy. The people, the dishes, the furniture, etc. Suddenly, music wakes everyone up to start dancing, but this leads to those in the home becoming tired - dancing is exhausting!

[Meredith · Rating 2 out of 5]

A sleeping anthropomorphic house and its sleeping anthropomorphic contents as well as its sleeping human inhabitant are awakened by music and then fall a back to sleep.

The illustrations are lovely.