Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, Said the Sloth

The sloth does everything slowly slowly slowly. All the rain forest animals question why he is the way he is. Jaguar accuses him of being lazy. The sloth stands up for himself, accepting himself with all his slothful charactistics but denying laziness. A very good story about self-acceptance and understanding of differences. The illustrations depict the animals of the rain forest in bold brilliant colors. Each animal is indentified at the end of the book. The text is large and clear. An introduction by Jane Goodall provides information about sloths. This book succeeds as a total package.

This is one of my favorite books to read to my daughter at night, and it is one of her faves as well. The art and prose are beautiful, and whether or not the child understands all of the words is beside the point. It is great for getting the little one to slow down her engine and appreciate those who may not move at the same speed. Drawing on the biblical standpoint of sloth as one of the deadly sins, the other creatures ridicule the sloth for being so lazy. Here Carle gets us to appreciate the great virtue of being, well, "slothful." In this fast-moving and chaotic world (which greatly affects our kids whether we care to admit it or not)the sloth can teach us a lot through his contemplative and deliberate philosophy of life. I strongly recommend this book.

Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, Said the Sloth, written by Eric Carle, is a delightful children's picture book about the joys of learning to march to one's own drum. A sloth lives alone in the rain forest. The sloth does nothing but hang from the branches of his tree and sleep all day. During the course of the story various animals ask the sloth questions about his habits. "Why are you so slow?" "Why are you so lazy?" The sloth finally responds one day with the following rather simple but effective defense of his life style, "That's just how I am. I like to do things slowly, slowly, slowly." The illustrations are bright and colorful. Eric Carle's collage style is perfectly suited for creating the sloth's rain forest home and the many other animal denizens who populate its landscape. Slowly, Slowly, Slowly, Said the Sloth is an excellent book with a gentle and heart felt message for children.Preston McClear,

Slowly, slowly, slowly...that's the way of the sloth. Whether crawling along a branch, or eating a leaf, the sloth never hurries, but spends most of his life hanging upside down from a tree branch in the rain forest, and sleeping, rain or shine. "Why are you so slow?" the howler monkey asked one day." And why so quiet and boring, other animals want to know. The sloth didn't answer. He just hung, silently, and slept. But when the jaguar asks why he's so lazy, the sloth finally sees the need to set the record straight. He may be many things, among them lackadaisical, unflappable, sluggish, calm, and laid-back. "I am relaxed and tranquil, and I like to live in peace. But I am not lazy." Then the sloth yawned and said, "That's just how I am. I like to do things slowly, slowly, slowly." Beginning with an intriguing forward by Jane Goodall, detailing the life and habits of the sloth, Eric Carle's wonderfully creative picture book pays homage to an unlikely and endearing hero. His spare and slothlike, repetitive text is quiet, soothing and engaging. But, as always, it's Mr Carle's bold, bright, and imaginative cut-paper collage illustrations that make this book stand out and sparkle. Each two page spread dazzles with vibrant color and clever detail as the many animals who live in the rain forest march by, and youngsters can find all their pictures and names displayed on the endpapers for further reference. Perfect for preschoolers, "Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," Said The Sloth is a captivating masterpiece that entertains and enlightens with its gentle message. As the sloth would tell you...Slow down, set your own pace, and enjoy life!

After all these years of presenting us with fabulous children's books, Eric Carle has outdone himself. "Slowly, Slowly," a beautifully written and illustrated tribute to the world's rain forests, will bring a tear to an adult's eye, and will appeal to children of ALL ages, despite its picture-book presentation.Beginning with the thoughtful, simply written but heartfelt introduction by Jane Goodall, in which she explains the world of the sloth in terms anyone can understand, to the lovely wording of the book (the sloth does everything slowly, slowly...languid and lovely) to the trademark Carle collage illustrations, this book has something for everyone. And it educates in such a subtle way that even the most recalcitrant child will come away with a strong sense of who lives in the rain forests and why they must be preserved.Every page features not only the sloth, but another animal as well, illustrated in the most enchanting of collage pictures. At the end of the book, each of these "extra" animals is listed by its special picture, and identified. And each is native to the rain forest.What more can I say? I predict this will become Carle's legacy, outdoing all the rest of his work combined. I love it so much that I am ordering it for my college-age daughter, whose love of all things wild survived into her young adulthood.