Mary Had a Sleepy Sheep by Julia Dweck

Hi there.

*yawn*

Welcome to the place where wearing your footie pajamas in the daylight is still PERFECTLY acceptable, especially considering today's featured title....Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers.

Yes siree.  It's time to take a walk on the ebook side of things once again with a Children's author that keeps showing progress with each and every release.  This time we have a sleepy sheep to contend with (hence the invitation to don the footie pj's) and as I understand it, the little guy was inspired by her husband!  Shock and awe?  Naw.  He's got a good sense of humor according to Ms. Dweck and well, if you were immortalized in as cute a story as this, you probably would too.  Ready to embark to dream land with a curly haired wonder, and her human friend Mary?  Let's do this.  Pillows at the ready, today's featured ebook of choice is...

Mary Had a Sleepy Sheep

by

Julie Dweck

Illustrated by

Wilson Williams, Jr.

You heard the one about Mary and her little lamb, well, this time her little guy's a sheep and boy is he EVER sleepy!  No seriously.  He sleeps through fiestas, sambas, winter storms, shaving cream, raucous laughter, and everything in-between.  I mean, when I crash, I crash but my goodness...that's one sound sleeping sheep!  Oh but Mary, she's a crafty little girl, persistent too...and you know what they say, slow and steady wins the race, or in this case, awakens the sleeping ewe-ty.

I laughed, I smiled, I "ooh'd" and "ahh'd".  I did all of this and more while curiously waiting to see just what Mary would try next...and what would finally work, if anything!  Structure and layout wise, things were walking the brick road of gold as the rhymes were spot on and the timing matched in equal measure. As per her usual "mo", the author doesn't let the fun end JUST because you reached the end of the story.  Nope.  Just not going to happen.  As it turns out, we're in for a little history about the real Mary from the original poem, as well as a seek-in-find, coloring time, compare and contrast...and for the readers seeking to be writers, actors, cartoonist and the lot of creative individuals that help our world go round, there's a resource page of interesting sites to check out.  Good stuff!  Now, moving forward....

I gotta say, the story stands on it's own, though I am a tad perplexed by the ending (is the sheep energized by the leaping men, is Mary simply working reverse psychology on the wooly fella?) and the add ins at books end for parents and readers are wonderful, but the illustrator gave things an added lift with his wonderful illustrations.  I'm not sure how she finds all of these great artists but they bring an extra joy to an already fun read.  My fellow readers of pictures books both "e" and non can attest to the fact that while the story is important, the rhyme and meter execution vital, the pictures are the blood line to some degree.  Here...we have another winner.  Mary and her mother are equally represented in their various emotional states while Sheppard can be seen dozing at almost every twist and turn.  I'll tell you what though, for such a sleepy little guy, he gets around!

In conclusion, a great addition to author Julia Dweck's catalog of ebook wonders and one I most certainly recommend for readers for all ages.  This title is set to be released September 5th, 2013 via Xist Publishing...but can be pre ordered now!  Special thanks to author Julia Dweck for the ebook copy for review.  (THANKS!)  For more information on this title as well as her full body of works, stop by her site, like her Facebook or follow along on Twitter.  To discover more about the illustrator, friend him on Facebook.

Until next time...happy reading!