What do you think?
Rate this book
Kyle Goes Alone
Kyle has to go. There’s just one problem: as a young three-toed sloth, he lives high in the rainforest canopy with his mom, and it’s a LONG way down to the forest floor. Like other sloths, Kyle only goes down to the ground once a week when he has to do his “business.” And he’s never made the journey by himself before.
Kyle’s mom says he’s old enough to go alone, but Kyle isn’t sure he’s ready. It’s so far! And won’t it be lonely? Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much time to decide.
As he descends, Kyle’s worries dissipate when he discovers he’s not really alone. He encounters friendly neighbors like the red-spectacled parrot, whipsnake, tiger-legged monkey tree frog and leaf-cutting ant, all camouflaged in the canopy. With encouragement from his mom, he keeps moving — and makes it just in time.
The book closes with two pages of informational text: one about three-toed sloths and the other about camouflage. Cut-paper collage art brings the rainforest canopy and all its many layers to life throughout this sweet, gently humorous story about new experiences and newfound independence.
Kyle’s mom says he’s old enough to go alone, but Kyle isn’t sure he’s ready. It’s so far! And won’t it be lonely? Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much time to decide.
As he descends, Kyle’s worries dissipate when he discovers he’s not really alone. He encounters friendly neighbors like the red-spectacled parrot, whipsnake, tiger-legged monkey tree frog and leaf-cutting ant, all camouflaged in the canopy. With encouragement from his mom, he keeps moving — and makes it just in time.
The book closes with two pages of informational text: one about three-toed sloths and the other about camouflage. Cut-paper collage art brings the rainforest canopy and all its many layers to life throughout this sweet, gently humorous story about new experiences and newfound independence.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published August 11, 2015
2 people are currently reading
34 people want to read
About the author
Jan Thornhill
28 books17 followersI was born in 1955 in Sudbury, but spent most of my childhood in southern Ontario where, encouraged by my artist mother and engineer/inventor father, I developed a life-long passion for both art and the natural world. I spent a lot of time exploring the fields, woods, ponds, and streams near where I lived, and was an avid collector of things I found. I brought home all kinds of treasures – skulls and fossils, bird feathers and empty nests, insects, snake skins, fallen leaves. Eventually I labeled everything and made a museum in the basement. I thought I’d get rich by charging a 5¢ entry fee…but my mum was the only one who paid!
After high school, I attended the Ontario College of Art where I had fun making experimental films and videos – not drawing and painting. For about ten years after that, I illustrated freelance for magazines and newspapers, and did odd jobs such as sewing thousands of beads and sequins on Dolly Parton’s dresses. Finally, in the late eighties, I switched to the much richer life of creating children’s books. From the beginning, the aim of these wildlife-based books has been to foster in young readers a love of art, nature and the environment.
I live in the Kawarthas in a house in the woods that my husband and I built. As well as making books, I grow organic vegetables, raise a few chickens each year, make bread from captured wild yeast, and wander around in the woods looking for wild mushrooms, slime molds, beetles and animal skulls. A lot of the things I find – skulls, snake skins, desiccated insects, a mummified bat & hummingbirds, etc. – have made their way into what I call my “museum-in-a-bag,” a collection of natural treasures I share with kids when I visit schools. I’m an obsessive observer of the world around me, so much so that I consider a day I haven’t learned something to be a day wasted.
After high school, I attended the Ontario College of Art where I had fun making experimental films and videos – not drawing and painting. For about ten years after that, I illustrated freelance for magazines and newspapers, and did odd jobs such as sewing thousands of beads and sequins on Dolly Parton’s dresses. Finally, in the late eighties, I switched to the much richer life of creating children’s books. From the beginning, the aim of these wildlife-based books has been to foster in young readers a love of art, nature and the environment.
I live in the Kawarthas in a house in the woods that my husband and I built. As well as making books, I grow organic vegetables, raise a few chickens each year, make bread from captured wild yeast, and wander around in the woods looking for wild mushrooms, slime molds, beetles and animal skulls. A lot of the things I find – skulls, snake skins, desiccated insects, a mummified bat & hummingbirds, etc. – have made their way into what I call my “museum-in-a-bag,” a collection of natural treasures I share with kids when I visit schools. I’m an obsessive observer of the world around me, so much so that I consider a day I haven’t learned something to be a day wasted.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
March 24, 2019
Cute, interesting and educational.
November 21, 2015
I picked this book up because of the adorable sloth on the cover. (MICHELLE!!!!!) Who knew I would read such a sweet book about a sloth going poop all by himself. I definitely learned something new... Sloths only have to use the bathroom about once a week because EVERYTHING about them is slow. Also I learned that they have to hold on to the base of the tree or a vine whilst they go potty for fear of predators.
Aside from the content, I thought the illustrations were really great and Kyle himself was adorbs.
Aside from the content, I thought the illustrations were really great and Kyle himself was adorbs.
June 21, 2016
Our library mascot is a sloth, so I was automatically drawn to this book. I really love it because the illustrations are beautiful, it has an engaging story, and I learned a lot about the rain forest and sloths. I plan to use this book in storytime soon!
June 20, 2016
Adorable!! Kyle really really needed to go and after a week I would too.
February 25, 2019
Working on potty training? This is a super cute story about a sloth going to the bathroom by itself. Apparently three-toed sloths move so slowly they only go the the bathroom once a week. They spend most of their time up in the trees and only make their way down to the forest floor when they have to go! This is going on our list of books to revisit when we start potty training. For more children's book recommendations join the Loud and Cleary Facebook Group at bit.ly/2Vk0MZE or visit https://loudandcleary.com/category/bo...
October 14, 2017
The illustrations in this book are fabulous. I think it's a great story about having perseverance in yourself and being brave. This books teaches readers a lot about animals that can be found in the same "canopy" habitat. I enjoyed reading the back page. Again, awesome illustrations... Kyle's eye color 😍
April 29, 2018
Absolutely adorable! The art is amazing and so colorful. The story is cute and has a message of never giving up. There's a little bit about sloths at the end along with the explanation of camouflaging which was pretty cool and informative. I recommend this book to all! Especially if you love sloths.
February 11, 2019
A book about a young sloth making his first trip to the forest floor (to "go") by himself.
Each time as he stops and thinks he's all alone, a jungle neighbor shows himself/herself and provides support.
Information about sloths and jungle camouflage.
The text flips orientation from page to page, which is pretty disconcerting.
Each time as he stops and thinks he's all alone, a jungle neighbor shows himself/herself and provides support.
Information about sloths and jungle camouflage.
The text flips orientation from page to page, which is pretty disconcerting.
May 16, 2017
Kids have to love this book all about being brave to leave mom's side to travel all the way down from the treetops of the rain forest to the forest floor to go! Love the info at the end.
November 21, 2017
I lowered my rating just because the author never specifies what "go" means within the story. Leaving this out devalues the book as an educational source and just makes it cutesy.
December 18, 2017
Surprisingly, a potty book. If I hadn't recently learned about sloths, this would have seemed weirdly out of context.
February 17, 2018
This book was really interesting. Reading it with Kyle made it even better. Once we figured out what the title means we really laughed.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2020
They had me at "young sloth has to poop and his mother says he's old enough to go alone".
March 7, 2017
This is pretty cute for a book that's entirely about a sloth pooping.
January 14, 2016
Kyle is a sloth who has to go... His mother encourages him to travel down the tree they live in all by himself. Kyle doesn't want to go alone, but he really has to go... So he starts moving slowly down the tree. Along the way he calls back for reassurance and finds that he is not really alone, there are a lot of other rainforest animals camouflaged nearby who are also cheering him on. Kyle finally reaches the base of the tree and holds on tightly while he goes... When he's finished his mother calls down to him again and asks if she can come and carry him back to the top because she misses holding him like she did when he was a baby sloth. Kyle knows that he is old enough and big enough to go alone, but he's happy to have his mother carry him to the top of the canopy.
http://julianaleewriter.com/books-ali...
http://julianaleewriter.com/books-ali...
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 30, 2015
Slow moving sloths seldom descend from the rainforest canopy to the forest floor; only about once a week, when they have to go (it's a fact.) This nature story is also a mother/child story: she says he's old enough to go alone. It's a loooong way down, and Kyle is encouraged by a variety of rainforest creatures along the way (a parrot, a snake, a tree frog, a leaf cutter ant). The book changes orientation as Kyle descends.
The large size, bright colors, and appealing illustrations make this well-suited for storytime sharing. It's reassuring that after Kyle does finally make it, his mother is there to accompany him back to the top.
Endpages include facts about sloths and camouflage in the rainforest.
Author & illustrator Ashley Barron are from Canada.
The large size, bright colors, and appealing illustrations make this well-suited for storytime sharing. It's reassuring that after Kyle does finally make it, his mother is there to accompany him back to the top.
Endpages include facts about sloths and camouflage in the rainforest.
Author & illustrator Ashley Barron are from Canada.
October 10, 2015
Age: Toddler-Preschool
Familiar Experience: Going potty alone
Animals: Sloth, parrot, snake, frog, ant
There's a book for everything, and there's a reader for every book. Kyle the sloth slowly--very slowly--makes his way down the tree to use the bathroom, but this will be his first time without his mom. As he goes down the tree, he meets 4 friends that encourage his progress. While the progress may be unbearably slow for older preschoolers, the textual repetition is nice for toddlers and 3s.
Familiar Experience: Going potty alone
Animals: Sloth, parrot, snake, frog, ant
There's a book for everything, and there's a reader for every book. Kyle the sloth slowly--very slowly--makes his way down the tree to use the bathroom, but this will be his first time without his mom. As he goes down the tree, he meets 4 friends that encourage his progress. While the progress may be unbearably slow for older preschoolers, the textual repetition is nice for toddlers and 3s.
December 13, 2015
So this book is about a sloth that has to poop. It sounds just about as interesting as all other Oh No, Gotta Go! read-alikes, only this really isn't. First off, sloths. Second off, the illustrations are adorable paper-cuts and you know what? That's just so colorful and beautiful too. Then you throw in the fact that the other characters in the book are genuine animals that would live in Central/South America near a three-toed sloth, and that they're using camouflage to hide on every page, and you've got an activity story. Bada-boom.
August 13, 2015
Sloths are so slow, they only "go" (as in potty) once a week. That fact alone will hook little kids!
Gorgeous paper-cut collage, perfect for an early learning theme about rainforests. Along with a simple plot (Kyle the sloth has to "go", and on his first solo trip to the ground, he finds comfort seeing friends along the way), we get some really interesting information about sloths.
Easy to retell with puppets, pictures, or, if you dare, readers' theater!
Gorgeous paper-cut collage, perfect for an early learning theme about rainforests. Along with a simple plot (Kyle the sloth has to "go", and on his first solo trip to the ground, he finds comfort seeing friends along the way), we get some really interesting information about sloths.
Easy to retell with puppets, pictures, or, if you dare, readers' theater!
December 9, 2015
I was excited by the title of the book--I thought it'd be one of those classic books that talks about bodily functions (which preschoolers love). Instead, it's an educational experience. The cut paper illustrations are gorgeous, the concept of camouflage is integrated into the story (kids will love trying to find the creatures) and the end papers include information about sloths and camouflage.
December 14, 2015
I had such high hopes for this book. Sloths, potty, growing up? Sounds great for storytime. The illustrations were great, which is the only reason it got this many stars. It had too many words, went on for too long, and the turning the book 90 degrees thing was only fun the first time: not every other page.
March 18, 2016
3 stars
Yep - it's a picture book about a young sloth that REALLY has to go to the bathroom and decides to finally go on his own (with the encouragement from various friends).
Not sure if the point of this it to teach kids to go potty, or if you're scared to try something on your own it isn't as scary with the support of friends, but it's a cute picture book.
Yep - it's a picture book about a young sloth that REALLY has to go to the bathroom and decides to finally go on his own (with the encouragement from various friends).
Not sure if the point of this it to teach kids to go potty, or if you're scared to try something on your own it isn't as scary with the support of friends, but it's a cute picture book.
December 28, 2015
Story about a sloth traveling down to the forest floor "to go". Young kids don't understand what "to go" means so I had to explain it. It does have some repetitive lines which are nice for read alouds.
August 13, 2015
A cute little book about an important moment in any young sloth's life.
Bonus for the crash-course on camouflage and sloth ...um... excretory habits.
Bonus for the crash-course on camouflage and sloth ...um... excretory habits.
October 27, 2015
I grabbed this book because it has SLOTHS in it. I had no idea that the "goes" in Kyle Goes Alone referred to going to the bathroom! Ha. Simple, quiet story with interesting facts at the end.
December 19, 2017
Gorgeous paper-cut collage illustrations make a baby sloth's potty tale winsomely readable.
March 30, 2016
Cute. Who doesn't love sloths?
April 14, 2016
My youngest daughter absolutely loved this story!!!!!
November 7, 2022
This book has so many great elements!
Trusting yourself.
Potty Training.
The power of community.
parenting.
Trusting yourself.
Potty Training.
The power of community.
parenting.
December 31, 2015
Probably silly of me, but I had no idea this book was going to be about pooping! :)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews