What do you think?
Jeffrey and Sloth
Jeffrey can't think of a thing to write, so he doodles instead, only to have his doodle begin to order him about. Jeffrey struggles with the situation until he discovers that the most strong-willed doodle is powerless against a well-told tale. Jeffrey and Sloth is bound to have children rushing for their colored pencils and their pens to see who and what they can create.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2007
About the author
Kari-Lynn Winters
39 books33 followersKari-Lynn Winters is an award-winning picture book author, playwright, and scholar who enjoys being in the classroom in any of these capacities. She holds a position at Brock University as a full professor of drama-in-education, dance-in-education, and literacy. Her graduate work, which was completed at the University of British Columbia, focused on combining the arts with reading and writing.
When Kari-Lynn began to write children’s picture book manuscripts and submit them to publishers about 22 years ago, people often shook their heads, advising her to write novels instead.
“It is so difficult to get picture books published in these times,” they said.
But Kari-Lynn persisted, continuing to collect, read, research, and write picture books. Her persistence paid off. Today, 31 books (picturebooks, poetry, non-fiction) that Kari-Lynn wrote have been accepted for publication. In addition, she has had academic chapters and articles about multimodality and student literacy published by Heinemann and in The Reading Teacher.
Kari-Lynn says the best thing about writing for children is that she can share silly ideas in funny and interactive ways and that she can talk to children about their own experiences as young authors.
When Kari-Lynn began to write children’s picture book manuscripts and submit them to publishers about 22 years ago, people often shook their heads, advising her to write novels instead.
“It is so difficult to get picture books published in these times,” they said.
But Kari-Lynn persisted, continuing to collect, read, research, and write picture books. Her persistence paid off. Today, 31 books (picturebooks, poetry, non-fiction) that Kari-Lynn wrote have been accepted for publication. In addition, she has had academic chapters and articles about multimodality and student literacy published by Heinemann and in The Reading Teacher.
Kari-Lynn says the best thing about writing for children is that she can share silly ideas in funny and interactive ways and that she can talk to children about their own experiences as young authors.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 7, 2011
This is a great book that teaches students about the writing process. It is about a boy who doesn't know what to write about, so he starts to doodle. His doodle gives him a great idea for a story that keeps building and building. Students who like to draw will be interested in this book that is power-packed with creativity.
October 20, 2009
Try to get over writer's block and travel the world at the same time.
June 26, 2017
Good story about inner voices and speaking positively to ourselves. This would be a great story to read in September when we start writing narrative stories.
Jeffrey makes a fun reference to Canada in the story too...which made sense when I found out the author was Canadian. Yea for Canadian authors!
It is illustrated by the same guy who did Richard Was A Picker.
Jeffrey makes a fun reference to Canada in the story too...which made sense when I found out the author was Canadian. Yea for Canadian authors!
It is illustrated by the same guy who did Richard Was A Picker.
November 6, 2024
Great premise, well-drawn (if a bit too trendy for me) and competently written, but somehow not a great book, just a good one. Perhaps it's too good an idea for little kids, who are after all used to having their creations come to life.
December 1, 2017
Nice for teaching kids about the power of writing.
April 22, 2012
This is an interesting story about a young boy who should be doing homework, but decides that he'd rather doodle. It shows his creativity and how his imagination and his pictures helped him create the story he was assigned to write. The illustrations are colorful, somewhat strange, and complement the narrative nicely. I love that this is a story that many young schoolchildren will be able to identify with and relate to (our oldest certainly did!) Overall, it's an entertaining story and one that would work well with a group read aloud, I think.
Our oldest discovered this book at our local library and chose it to read aloud to the therapy dog who was visiting. After, we sat down and read it together and talked about the pictures and about the fun adventure story that the boy created.
Our oldest discovered this book at our local library and chose it to read aloud to the therapy dog who was visiting. After, we sat down and read it together and talked about the pictures and about the fun adventure story that the boy created.
September 9, 2014
Winter, K. & Hodson, B. (2008). Jeffrey and Sloth. Canada: Orca Book Publishers.
Tumblebooks (2010).
In this interesting story, a boy with writer���s block doodles a sloth, which becomes real and begins to order the boy around! Eventually the boy realizes that he can solve his problem with his writing. I like the way the doodles are in black and white until they come to ���life.��� Because it���s a Tumblebook, the pictures enhance the story with movement and the sentences are highlighted as they are read. I would love to use this story for creative writing -- students could draw their own doodles that come to life and have adventures. Would work for a guidance lesson on changing the negative messages that we send ourselves. Could also work for a lesson on action verbs. Ages 4-8.
Tumblebooks (2010).
In this interesting story, a boy with writer���s block doodles a sloth, which becomes real and begins to order the boy around! Eventually the boy realizes that he can solve his problem with his writing. I like the way the doodles are in black and white until they come to ���life.��� Because it���s a Tumblebook, the pictures enhance the story with movement and the sentences are highlighted as they are read. I would love to use this story for creative writing -- students could draw their own doodles that come to life and have adventures. Would work for a guidance lesson on changing the negative messages that we send ourselves. Could also work for a lesson on action verbs. Ages 4-8.
September 9, 2014
Winter, K. & Hodson, B. (2008). Jeffrey and Sloth. Canada: Orca Book Publishers.
Tumblebooks (2010).
In this interesting story, a boy with writer’s block doodles a sloth, which becomes real and begins to order the boy around! Eventually the boy realizes that he can solve his problem with his writing. I like the way the doodles are in black and white until they come to “life.” Because it’s a Tumblebook, the pictures enhance the story with movement and the sentences are highlighted as they are read. I would love to use this story for creative writing -- students could draw their own doodles that come to life and have adventures. Would work for a guidance lesson on changing the negative messages that we send ourselves. Could also work for a lesson on action verbs. Ages 4-8.
Tumblebooks (2010).
In this interesting story, a boy with writer’s block doodles a sloth, which becomes real and begins to order the boy around! Eventually the boy realizes that he can solve his problem with his writing. I like the way the doodles are in black and white until they come to “life.” Because it’s a Tumblebook, the pictures enhance the story with movement and the sentences are highlighted as they are read. I would love to use this story for creative writing -- students could draw their own doodles that come to life and have adventures. Would work for a guidance lesson on changing the negative messages that we send ourselves. Could also work for a lesson on action verbs. Ages 4-8.
September 10, 2014
I'm torn on this book - on the one hand it is a great book to introduce kids to the writing process, specifically the part about finding inspiration and perseverance - on the other hand, Sloth is mean and Jeffrey a jerk.
On the other other hand, it is an excellent example for showing kids what verbal bullying and manipulation can look like for class discussion.
On the other other hand, it is an excellent example for showing kids what verbal bullying and manipulation can look like for class discussion.
February 24, 2016
I have a new fascination with sloths....I put "sloths" into my search and ended up with this title. Great! It is fun and has nice illustrations...the bad thing is that I couldn't find a library that owned it so I had to read the digital version...it is so not the same thing. I will check with my used bookstore and see if I can find it.....
July 12, 2016
4 Stars
Adorable book about Jeffrey who wants to be a writer, but his "sloth" doesn't think he's very good. So...Jeffrey writes out all of these physical activities that the sloth must do in order to get his cozy blanket. Very cute, just pretty wordy for a picture book. I think this would be better for Kindergarten than a toddler.
Adorable book about Jeffrey who wants to be a writer, but his "sloth" doesn't think he's very good. So...Jeffrey writes out all of these physical activities that the sloth must do in order to get his cozy blanket. Very cute, just pretty wordy for a picture book. I think this would be better for Kindergarten than a toddler.
November 5, 2013
I loved everything about this book. The illustrations are adorable. The story is funny! And its a great tool to unleash every child's inner writer.
February 14, 2014
Some help with homework. I feel for the sloth.
June 25, 2015
I thoroughly enjoyed this clever look at the challenges of writing stories and how they can be overcome.
November 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews