Review by Booklist Review
Bedtime gets manic in this meta picture book about the havoc caused by one clumsy sheep. A brown-skinned boy is tucked in tight, and he's counting sheep to help him nod off. He gets through 100, but sheep 101 takes a tumble and gets caught on the fence. From there, it's mayhem: sheep 102 tries to get everything back in order, but sheep 103 arrives . . . and is not a sheep at all! Rather, 103 is a cow who's taking a break from jumping over the moon to pitch in on fence duty. Other nursery rhyme characters arrive, and soon there's a backlog of fence jumpers, and a LEGO helicopter has to intervene. Pham cleverly weaves elements of the boy's bedroom throughout the illustrations the field on which the sheep are jumping resembles the boy's bedspread, and toys from his dresser appear among the characters. Morris' over-the-top humor, particularly when the characters break the fourth wall, will delight imaginative kiddos, and despite the frenzied plot, there's a nice bedtime wind down, too.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
This isn't an introductory course in animal husbandry, but rather a clever spin on the soporific mental exercise of counting sheep. A tucked-in, wide-awake boy is seen on the opening endpapers; he serves as an unseen narrator and sheep counter, and sharp-eyed readers will note that the other characters are items found in his bedroom. Morris (This Is a Moose) and Pham (Fallingwater) basically bypass the first 100 sheep, but chaos ensues when the 101st sheep gets stuck in the fence. "Do you see that we have a sheep down?" barks the take-charge Sheep 102 to the narrator. Since sheep are apparently in limited supply, nursery rhyme characters arrive as backup ("I usually jump over the moon, so this fence thing should be a breeze," says a confident cow), and sleep is finally achieved after Sheep 102 summons a toy helicopter full of Lego-style figurines. Sure, it may be a bit too boisterous for bedtime reading, but it's practically guaranteed that readers will go giggling into that good night. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Alice Tasman, Jean V. Naggar Literary. Illustrator's agent: Linda Pratt, Wernick & Pratt. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Counting sheep has never been such a cooperative effort!A little black child lies in bed on the endpapers staring at a sheep-shaped clock. A puffy, stuffed sheep rests at the end of the bed. The child is counting sheep. As the book begins, Sheep 99 and Sheep 100 sail over the fence, but Sheep 101 (the stuffed toy) becomes stuck midjump. Sheep 102 tries to help, but the child narrator tells it sheep aren't supposed to talk. As Sheep 101 continues to struggle, along comes a cow (the one that jumped over the moon); she says they're out of sheep and she's Sheep 103. The fifth little piggy is Sheep 104. One of the three blind mice is Sheep 105. Sheep 102 returns and calls in Sandman, a Lego rescue copteronly to find that Sheep 101 (and the child) are fast asleep. Morris' charmer of a bedtime tale is told mostly in speech balloons with occasional text interjection from the counting child, who is depicted only on the endpapers. Pham's digitally finished crayon-and-pencil cartoon illustrations, all full-bleed, are full of foolish-looking farm animals who routinely break the fourth wall and address the counting child (and the audience). Cheeky characters, onomatopoeia, and plenty of goofy action will keep the pages turning and force rereads.This may not send wee ones to the Land of Nod, but it will spark their imaginations and tickle their funny bones. (Picture book. 2-7) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
