Nonfiction Monday: All About Sleep From A to Zzzz

All About Sleep From A to Zzzz
by Elaine Scott
Illustrated by John O’Brien
Viking
ISBN: 9780670061884
$17.99
Grades 5-8
In Stores

*Recommended*

How’s your sleep section doing? If it’s like the one at the school library I call home, then it could be better. The 100 Scope Notes Research Department (see: my wild imagination) tells me that sleep is a commonly overlooked topic. I can understand why. It’s a complicated subject that is hard to clearly explain. With that in mind, I’ve gotta hand it to All About Sleep From A to Zzzz for making this complex subject accessible to young readers. A good one to have on hand.

All About Sleep sets out to do exactly what it’s title suggests: describe sleep thoroughly from all angles. You’ve got your biology of sleep, your types of sleep, the study of dreams, and discussion of sleep disorders. All of these elements are described in fairly simple terms. The book also answers my most pressing sleep question: why do I feel like I’m falling when I’m starting to sleep and jerk awake? I discovered that:

1. I’m not alone. And,

2. It has to do with the physiology of sleep. I’m not strange. Good.

While the author delves into the science of sleep, it is the anecdotes and illustrations that up the interest factor. Descriptions of children finding lost objects through dreams and astounding true-life tales of sleepwalking (and their accompanying ink illustrations) will keep the reader going.

Look, I understand that there aren’t many kids who will be anxious to pick up a book on sleep for pleasure reading. It isn’t a topic that inspires a huge amount of exploration. But if they pick this one up, they will be pleasantly surprised. The clear explanations, interesting anecdotes, and amusing illustrations combine to make All About Sleep a good resource on an often underrepresented subject.

Check out the Nonfiction Monday roundup at Picture Book of the Day.

Find this book at your local library with WorldCat.

Filed under: Reviews