Book Review: Sleepy Head / Dormilón by Natasha Balseca

 

Book: Sleepy Head / Dormilón

Author: Natasha Balseca

Illustrator: Dana Daniel

Publisher: Monarca Press

Publication date: 2011

Categories: 

Supports Diverse Protagonist

Picture Book 

Bilungual

Online Material

Lexile Score: Not Available

Target Audience: ages 4-7

Brief Summary

This is the story of Matteo and his struggle to fall asleep. He tells his mom that he can't sleep and she tells him to think of certain things such as sleepy on a cloud in the sky or or in a boat in the deep blue sea or lying in a bed of flowers. Nothing seems to help Matteo sleep until his mom tells him to picture him snuggled in his bed with him mom's arms wrapped around him. Matteo finally feels comfort and his falls asleep.

Evaluation: 30/32

Illustration - 4

Storyline - 3

Appropriateness - 4

Problems/Resolutions - 4

Stereotyping -4

Relatability 4

Readability/Cohesiveness - 4

Critical Thinking - 3

This is a very short story but it can be relatable to a lot of young children who struggle to fall asleep at night. It includes a lot of use of imagination and imagery so students can use that in the classroom. This book is bilingual so it has the diversity and it has a glossary in the back to help students figure out words. This book is something I would use in the classroom due to its simplicity and it would be easy to dive into the Spanish language.

Literary Elements

1. Imagery - This book uses a lot of imagery to help describe what Matteo should think about to help him fall asleep. The use of the descriptive words would help the reader imagine their own picture if there were no illustrations. If I were to teach a lesson on imagery, I could use this book and others to show how the use of adjectives and other descriptions can help a reader create their own illustrations. The students could create a story without pictures and allow another student to create the illustrations and see how close the illustrator can get to the author's intended purpose.

2. Theme - The theme of this book is thinking of calming places to allow yourself to relax.

3. Simile - An example of a simile from the book is "“Colorful fish swim around you like little rainbows that light up your dreams.”