Who is Sleeping?

Who is Sleeping written and illustrated by Petr Horacek, published by Walker Books, 2018. Ages 2+

I love Petr Horacek's colourful, distinctive style and was really pleased when my husband chose this early nature book for our boy at the local library recently.  It is a durable board book came out this year and is part of a lift the flap series which includes other titles 'Honk Honk, Baa Baa', 'Creepy Crawly' and more. A new one , 'Who is the Biggest' is out next February

Lift the flap books are a huge favourite in our household, providing the perfect mixture of storytelling and active involvement for my son. He loves peeking underneath and it really adds to his enjoyment of  the story (the flaps in this book are extra big and this makes it easy for small toddler hands to manouevre them, another win.) The simplicity of the text and bold, bright illustrations make this such a winning combination: it's a really memorable picture book for toddlers and parents alike. The brush strokes are vibrant and eye-catching, evoking various scenes in nature.

I love how each animal is partially concealed, to pique a child's curiosity.

The narrative is extremely simple here, beautiful sleeping animals (owl, crocodile, frog, bear and also a surprise, a sleeping child , looks like a boy) and this is enough for the young audience it is aimed at, especially with so much to devour visually. Walker books suggest 2+ but I would really have enjoyed showing this to my son from around 6 months as he became more aware of different colours. At the time I found it hard to find books I liked, with this level of eye-catching simplicity, to keep his attention but this would work a treat even for very young readers due to these winning combinations.

I also like the fact that this is a bedtime book but by stealth, with all the colours and flap action it doesn't feel as muted as some stereotypical lullaby style books . At the end down ,the surprise creature is the child hiding under the stripy duvet. I like this surprise and contrast and it is very relatable .