5 stars

Title: Already Asleep Sparkling Read … Highly Recommended … 5 stars The Review Son John is asleep in his bed, one shoe on and one shoe off, and so is daughter Bess, the little princess. Silly dog Zack is asleep on his back on the floor and out in her pen, belly in the mud, so is my pig Lynn. My pony Paul is asleep out in his stall and in his recliner in the house, so is my husband Lee. Not only that, out in the yard around the house, the raccoon, the squirrel and the cat, everyone, is asleep. Goodnight! Author Tarbox and Illustrator Olson have crafted a delightful ‘read to me Mama’ book for the youngest set. Illustrations are child oriented, writing narrative is presented in the sing song rhyme so enjoyed by little ones. Especially because we live in rural Oklahoma where the John Deere logo is common, the John Deere cap worn by dad in the book was noticed, and recognized with interest filled eyes. ‘My dad has a John Deere cap just like the dad’s!’ The theme presented in the book is one with which little folk can readily understand and identify as they snuggle on dad’s lap for ‘reading time’ before going off to bed in the evening. I took Already Asleep to school to read to my resident critics… my fourth grade class. They take their job as ‘critical listeners’ very seriously, listened carefully and offered comments. ‘Little kids will really like the rhymes,’ ‘the little kids will like the illustrations,’ ‘I’m going to choose this one to read to the four year olds when we go to their class.’ My ‘grown up’ nine year olds listened raptly and enjoyed the illustrations as I read the story. They all expressed interest in the tale and pleasure in listening to the narrative. They did, somewhat reluctantly, admit the work is not really meant for ‘grown up’ nine year olds, ‘it is a little younger for us, but my little brother would really like it.’ Aaready Asleep is well written, illustrations follow the narrative well and the book product itself is a sturdy, nicely bound edition designed to hold up to repetitive readings while held in little hands as well as repeated use in the classroom. The work has a place on the classroom reading shelf, the home and school library and the pleasure reading shelf. A ‘read to’ book for the youngest set 3 – 6 year olds, Already Asleep is a ‘read with some help’ for the reading 6 – 7 s, and a ‘I’ll read to you’ for the 9 – 11 year olds. Already Asleep is an edition I will keep for my own classroom, where it will be chosen, during this the beginning weeks of school, for pleasure reading during our free reading time. As the year progresses and our interests become even more ‘grown up’ the work will be read more with a view for taking to the four year old kindergarten when we begin our ‘reading across the grades’ program. Enjoyed the read, happy to recommend. Genre: children’s 32 page picture book Author: A. D. Tarbox Illustrated by Julie Olson Line/Publisher Moo Press Keene Publishing www.KeeneBooks.com PO Box 54, Warwick NY 10990 ISBN: 0-9766805-6-4 Reviewed by: molly martin 20+ years classroom teacher