Sailing Off to Sleep

by Linda Ashman

While settling down to bed, a young girl tells her mother of her dream to sail off and live in the north with the polar bears and whales, in a charming bedtime picture book by the author of Maxwell's Magic Mix-Up.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Animals, Storytime, Adventure, Poetry

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2001

About the author

Linda Ashman is the author of more than 40 picture books and The Nuts and Bolts Guide to Writing Picture Books . Her books have been included on the "best of the year" lists of the New York Times, IRA/CBC Children's Choices, the New York Public Library and others, and have been translated into many languages. Linda lives with her family in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.

Reviews

[Candice · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's time for a little girl to go to bed, but she would rather go sailing to the Arctic. When her mother voices her concerns that the little girl will be hungry, cold, lonely, the little girl comes back with an answer, most of which involve Arctic animals - walrus, seal, auk, wolf puppies, and more. The text is rhyming with the mother's voice in italics. It's a pleasant and sweet rhyme and the softly colored illustrations are beautiful. I got this for my 1 1/2 year old granddaughter but I notice that when I read it to her, my 4 1/2 year old granddaughter likes to listen, too. A cuddly book to read at bedtime.

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl doesn't want to go to bed. Instead, she wants to go sailing to the Arctic (at least!). As she and her mother go back and forth offering up problems and solutions, readers are introduced to several different Arctic animals, from polar bears and sea lions to caribou and auks. Sort of a frozen Hush, Little Baby, this is perfect for kindergarten classrooms learning about the Arctic region.

[Alexandria · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is such a cute story! When mom goes to tuck you in at night and you don't want to go to bed, what do you do? You go on an adventure of course! This tale takes you on an arctic adventure, introducing you to lots of furry friends before bringing you back home safely to sleep.

It's a great story to read aloud at bedtime, told in the alternating voice of the mother and the child who doesn't want to sleep. It could easily become a back and forth between caregiver and reader, as well as a wonderful part of a bedtime routine.

[Abby Peskin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a very sweet question-and-response style book like the runaway bunny, where the child tells the mother that she's going to go sailing instead of going to bed, and the mother asks her questions about how she'll handle specific challenges as she goes sailing into the arctic (ex. getting cold, finding things to eat, etc.). The book circles back nicely to sleeping in her warm, soft bed, and the drawings of the girl exploring the arctic in her imagination are beautiful.

[Trisha Parsons · Rating 5 out of 5]

The rhyme scheme in this book is consistent and the pictures provide a lot of opportunities to engage in dialogic reading.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with rhyme-filled, soft whimsy.

[Library Lady Terri · Rating 4 out of 5]

For an emergent reader this could be a good book for a parent and child to read together with each reading their part.

[Marcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really cute bedtime story!

[Ms.TPena Peña · Rating 5 out of 5]

This a beautifully illustrated bedtime story about a young girl telling her mother all of the adventures she'll go on. Through it all, the mother tells her how much she loves her.

[Landon Rotolo-Utz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading Sailing off to Sleep by Linda Ashman. The story starts off with a young girl who's not quite ready to go to bed. No, she rather go sailing instead. The reader is then off on an adventure sailing to the Arctic. For every concern the mother has, the little one has a solution and the dialog is in rhyme. The text and illustrations paint a world of blues, whites, and helpful animals. Students will be introduced to a different world including new geography and wildlife. There's whales, seals, polar bears and more. By the time the little one has finished telling her mother all she wants to do she's ready for bed. This would be a great text in early elementary first or second grade for a read aloud. This could be either for enrichment or curricular. With the wonderful description of the landscape and wildlife this book could be used with a social studies or science lesson. The animals of course are personified, which help to capture the students engagement. This will also hit home for students for we all can remember being sent to bed before we were done exploring for the day.

[Janet · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the small young girl is getting ready for bed she and her mother engage in what I refer to as a "call and response". Each time the mother asks a question about the imagined voyage the girl will take to the Artic the girl responds with an answer involving an Artic animal.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book for an Arctic animal theme because it has all of them :)

[Janice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very beautiful book.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet bedtime book with beautiful illustrations set in the arctic. Text is mother-daughter conversation about child's desire to take an adventure before bedtime.

[Jami · Rating 4 out of 5]

The girls liked this one.

[Camille · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love how the imagination keeps you going from one animal to the next and they are all her stuffed animals in the end. another favorites of my boys.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great book for an Arctic Storytime theme as it goes through arctic animals as well as the weather in the arctic.

[Beyond the Pages with Eva K · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very nice book with a very sweet message. It was a great bedtime story.

[Suzannah Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This would be lovely to read aloud due to the rhythmic narrative. It could be used topically as well to introduce the Arctic and the animals that call it home.