Score One for the Sloths

Sleepy Valley has a school just for sloths. The sloth children sleep through their classes, and they sleep through recess, too, just like their teacher. One day, a new energetic sloth named Sparky shows up and tries to get them excited about something- -about anything! But she doesn't have much success. Then the superintendent, a real boar, comes to inspect the school, and it's up to Sparky to single-handedly save the school. The story is cute and not at all scary. It might be most enjoyable for the younger school-aged crowd. It has about 400 words.

Just goes to show what a little ingenuity and ability to think on your feet can accomplish-even if you are a sloth!! A fun story about playing the game just enough to be left alone to be who you really are...My (almost) 3 year old loves this story, and I love reading it over and over and over and...

Score One for the Sloths, written by Helen Lester and illustrated by Lynn Musinger, is a wonderful story that truly defines the nature of the animals in a way a child can understand and enjoy. The story is about Sleepy Valley Sloth School, a school where sloths do nothing all day except sleep and eat. About halfway through the book, Sparky, the perky sloth, comes to the school. The lazy sloths do not welcome her arrival until they find out that because of their poor academic performance, their school might be shut down. The entertaining story features wonderful illustrations. The book has relatively easy language, and it is probably aimed at an early elementary school level. Helen Lester does a great job of portraying the typical sloth as well as the atypical sloth. The story conveys a message to children readers about stereotypes: although sloths have a reputation for being lazy, some do not fit that image. The illustrations work wonderfully with the text to tell a story about one sloth that saved the day for the rest. Lester, Helen. Score One For the Sloths. Illus. Lynn Munsinger. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2001

A friend of mine at work pointed this out to me, and I was struck immediately at how funny the story and the illustrations work out together. Who would have known that looking at very inactive sloths could be so entertaining? For instance, the scene at the playground is precious. As if the illustrations weren't enough, the story is good, and Sparky, the character introduced as a contrast to the other sloths and a disruption to their routine, was able to "save the day" without any of the characters having to completely change their personality.

"Ho-dee-hum. It was another day at Sleepy Valley Sloth School, and all the sloths were just hanging around." Every so often their teacher would awaken and teach a short lesson in yawn, snore or roll over. Lunch hour took three hours as the sloths slowly ate each berry, one at a time and after such an exhausting workout in the cafeteria, it was time for a nap. Then onto study hall and finally recess, though no sloth had the energy to play. They just hung around all over the swing set sleeping some more. At dismissal, no one had the energy to get up and leave, so they all just dozed and waited for the janitor to sweep them out the door. Life was good and slothful until Sparky showed up. She was perky and full of energy, a real mover and shaker and by lunchtime had driven the rest of the class crazy, disrupting their usual sleepy routine. But when a Boar with a clipboard from the Society for Organizing Sameness (SOS) in the Mammal District shows up and announces that Sleepy Valley Sloth School will be closed, because of such low, really non-existant test scores, Sparky comes to the rescue and saves the day..... That dynamic duo of Helen Lester and Lynn Munsinger have teamed up again and authored a delightful and amusing story that will have kids giggling and laughing and definitely wanting more. Ms Lester's charming, witty text includes puns and wordplay and is only outdone by Ms Munsinger's humorous and expressive artwork featuring sleepy, napping, inert sloths draped over trees, tables and playground equipment often with schoolbooks covering their faces. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Score One For The Sloths is hopefully the beginning of a new series and makes a wonderful addition to all home libraries.