There are children who have never heard of, or seen
much of the wildlife Jan Latta showcases. Her photography and research focuses
on educating children about endangered species and bringing the nature world to
life.
Sleepy the Sloth, another of Jan Latta’s True to
Life Books, took her five years of research to create while encountering lots
of obstacles to overcome.
She finally had to travel to the Jaguar Rescue Centre
in Costa Rica to take her photographs of the sloth to fit in with the book she
already written and designed.
Sleepy is a two-toed sloth. There are also
three-toed sloths. His uniqueness lies in the fact that he lives upside-down.
His hair grows from his stomach to cover his back. He is very hairy and smiles
all the time. He has the most beautiful face that you can’t help but adore.
Just as well as he’s always hanging around!
Sleepy is the narrator. He introduces himself,
his habitat, eating habits and lots of facts about sloths that you simply won’t
believe. He climbs down his tree once a week to fertilize the ground for the
sloth moths that make their home in his hair, to lay their eggs in.
Accompanying Sleepy’s narrative, are stunning
close-up photographs of the sloth’s features, toes, how he curls into a ball to
sleep and without me spoiling it for readers by revealing too much, lots of
other exciting and interesting information.
At the end of the book there is a page of sloth
facts, another page of Did You Know? followed by a discussion on how the book
was created. You will come across a maze to help the sloth moth find its way
back into Sleepy’s hair. There are lots of activities for kids to try, an
Animal Map, a sloth to colour in, and a list of interesting websites to
discover.
This book is valuable in many ways. It’s a
wonderful resource for kids’ bookcases and school libraries. There is also a
video where children can watch the sloth in action in the
wild, and a three minute smile by Sleepy, on YouTube at ‘Sleepy the Sloth by
Jan Latta’. (Visit her site to view her amazing wildlife videos.)
For more insight behind the making of this book and some truly gorgeous baby sloth photos, read Jan Latta's guest post, here.
Title:
Sleepy The Sloth
Author:
Jan Latta
Publisher:
True to Life Books, $14.95
Publication
Date: December 2017
Format:
Paperback
ISBN:
9780980872743
For
ages: 4+
Type:
Non Fiction
