Animals Asleep

by Sneed B. Collard III, Anik Scannell McGrory (Illustrations)

The average human sleeps a total of twenty-four years over a lifetime. That’s a lot of naps! Yet people aren’t the only ones who enjoy a good rest; if you look around, you’ll find that all animals have a biological need for sleep. But some animals snooze in ways that we would find startling—if not absolutely impossible. A sooty tern, an island bird, takes a nap in midair as it slowly flaps its wings. A fruit bat gets forty winks while hanging upside down from a tree branch. A bottlenose dolphin can put half of its brain to sleep while it continues to swim. What other remarkable methods of sleep exist?

Genres: Nonfiction

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 23, 2004

About the author

Sneed B. Collard III (see also "Sneed B. Collard") is a biologist, world traveler, speaker, and author of almost one hundred books for young people, including the 2024 Orbis Pictus Award winner, Border Crossings (Charlesbridge Publishing). His other recent science titles include Fire Birds; Hopping Ahead of Climate Change; Little Killers; Waiting for a Warbler; Beaver & Otter Get Along . . . Sort of; and the upcoming picture book, Like No Other. Collard holds science degrees from the University of California at Berkeley and U.C. Santa Barbara. He lives in Montana.

Reviews

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Animals asleep provides the reader with the many ways animal find to rest. The author uses language to make it comparative to the ways humans sleep (need a bed, sleep alone, on stomachs, etc). This helps bring the content to a level that is understandable to kids. Many different types of animals are described in the book from pandas, to birds, to giant clams. The watercolor illustrations bring the habitats of the animals to life.

[Michelle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Educational with great art! Has some animals most kids have never heard of, such as the raccoon dog

[Dorothy Carder · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a descriptive story of how animals sleep. It gave examples and details of how each animal sleeps, where and when. It was an informative book as it also said where these animals live in the world.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and informative.

[Tammy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for classroom lessons.