One More Sheep

by Mij Kelly, Russell Ayto (Illustrator)

This imaginative, funny counting book told in rhyme will delight young readers with its silly, offbeat storyline and amusing cast of characters.

Genres: Picture Books, Counting, Animals, Humor, Childrens, Storytime, Wolves

32 pages, Hardcover

First published June 17, 2004

About the author

What could be more beautiful than the laughter of children? That's why I write. You can find out more about me and my books, and read essays for children - and adults - on imagination and the craft of writing at my website.

For notifications, give-aways and competitions, like "Mij Kelly's children's books" on Facebook.

Look out for The Bump, which will be published on 6th October. I wrote it when my daughter was expecting my first grandchild - now four years old and starting school! I was so aware, when I was writing it, of what a journey pregnancy is, and how women throw their all into it to help their babies grow. It seemed to me that the boundless love and hope and courage of the mum-to-be wasn't very often celebrated. So that's what I set out to do. But I've got to say, words aside, Nicholas Allan's illustrations make this book. They're so soft and sweet and funny. He hits just the right note.

Reviews

[Abigail · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every night Sam brings his ten sheep home and tucks them in to bed, falling asleep as he attempts to count them. When there is a knock at the door one particularly stormy night, Sam is surprised to find that he has left one of his ovine charges outside. Or has he...? His sheep must find a way to convince him not to let this interloper in, but if he can't count them without falling asleep, how will he know that there is one sheep too many...?

An entertaining tale from British author/illustrator team Mij Kelly and Russell Ayto, One More Sheep is a poetic bedtime/counting book, with a quirky sense of humor and an appealingly offbeat rhythm, sure to appeal to children who like their stories a bit surreal. Playing off a number of well-known themes - counting sheep to get to sleep, the wolf in sheep's clothing - Kelly creates an suspenseful tale, while Ayto, whose work I have previously encountered in The Witch's Children by Ursula Jones, matches her offbeat humor with plenty of visual whimsy of his own. Recommended to anyone looking for bedtime and/or counting books that march to the beat of their own drummer.

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I pulled this off the shelf because I loved the cover illustration, and anything sheep bleats out to me. (Thanks, Mom! hee hee) This was a fun read with good humor behind it. I think it's worth trying on my preschool storytime group. It seems like it might be long, but the rhyming text keeps the story going. And I can incorporate some action and counting. I'll see how it goes.

9/14/10 & 9/16/10 This worked wonderfully. The kids liked the story, and they followed the pictures very well. They enjoyed counting (and dancing). And they liked the sound effects I was able to put in. A definite success.

9/28/10 The group did very well with this, including the special needs group. In fact, they were anxious to start counting ahead of time! But it worked well and they helped add to the sound effects.

9/30/10 Smaller group and I had to put in a bit more effort, but they still liked the book.

1/11/12 Went well in both groups, even with the younger and newer (thus less responsive) crowd. The first group definitely enjoyed the dancing and counting part, and enjoyed making sound effect with me. The second group was much smaller and I think more shy. But still a fun choice.

9/9/15 Used in lambs and sheep theme. This worked so well!! Very fun.

5/2/18 Felt like a long time since I read this. So I used it in O theme. Small crowd. But they liked it. They may have been distracted from my wavery voice that is barely coming back after being sick. But they sat well for it and counted the sheep with me.

5/6/18 This one went down with Daddy for his Daddy Night. Without his voice, his mom read it to SD and she liked it. I believe this was reread again during our weekend, but I missed most of bedtime reading with SD this weekend because I was spending so much time trying to help SS be calm and ready to sleep. Ah toddlers.

[Candice · Rating 4 out of 5]

A hilarious rhyming book about a man who has trouble counting his sheep because every time he tries to count them he falls asleep.

"On a wild, windy night,
in a fierce thunderstorm,
Sam brought home his sheep
and tucked them up warm,
woolly socks on their feet,
woolly hats on their heads.
They were all safe and snug
in their big cozy bed."

But count them he cannot, and soon there is a knock at the door. The reader will know, from the zany illustration that this is no sheep, but a wolf in sheep's clothing. Sam wants to let him in, but the sheep tell him that he must count them first. When Sam confesses that people fall asleep when counting sheep, the sheep come up with a solution. And what happens to the wolf? The clever text and amusing illustrations will bring smiles to adults and children alike.

[Alicia · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not an elementary librarian, but I've certainly checked out a lot of them for the boys and I've noticed a lot of books about sheep. Each one has a great storyline it seems, with this one no different.

Every time the man counts his sheep, guess what? He falls asleep, but the sheep must keep him awake since one "sheep" is knocking at the door and since he doesn't know yet how many he has, he doesn't know that the sheep is actually a big, bad wolf!

Love the counting and the twist on counting sheep, literally and figuratively.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam owns ten sheep, and when he puts them to bed he counts them...but this always puts him to sleep so he never finishes. How does he know they are all there when he gets a knock on the door and somebody looking like a sheep is there!

[Cosette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I rally like the rhyming structure and the intent of the book - SLEEP - however, the copy I read was missing a page (or two) and my listener declared she was not tired.

[Edward Sojuwa · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this little charmfest in rhyme, a farmer keeps a family of cuddly sheep in his farmhouse, keeping them safe from scum of the earth like Mr Wolf who is constantly howling for sheep cuisine! But every time the farmer counts his sheep to make sure all are accounted for, he falls asleep....fast! Then a knock on the door, and the farmer awakes to see at his doorstep one of his sheep.....or is it? Or could it be....Mr Wolf in Sheepie clothing? Can the sheep family convince him to do a recount and rid the house of this hairy stranger? Part counting book, part poem, all of it cute and fun.
Four stars
WOOL you read this book? Figured you would!

[Nic (nicsbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, tense and a joy to read aloud. The wording in this one really brought it all back from when I was a kid reading this for the first time. The rhyming and the drawings threw me back into my childhood bedroom when my mom would read this to me. So funny things changed and I read it to her instead. And doing silly voices is always good fun.

[Matthewjt · Rating 5 out of 5]

My child loves this book as do his parents love reading it to him. This book has taught him to growl like a wolf, knock on the book to show the "rata-tat-tat", and scream with the shepherd and his sheep. Fantastic way to end the day.

[Eric Hinkle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hahaha. Classic!

[Silvio111 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Delightful! It takes the well-known remedy for insomnia and spins it around a plot involving a wolf. Not just for kids. :)

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute! This was the read-aloud of the library I visited today.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clever rhyming book with one spread of counting.

[Ruby Khan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good for use in KS1 when learning about rhyme. This book presents rhyme as a literary device for creating humour .

[DJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun! Good for little counters!

[Amy Seto · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a wild and windy night, so Sam brings his sheep inside to sleep. He knows he has 10 sheep and he knows he should count them all, but when he gets to 4 he falls fast asleep. It’s really too bad that happened to Sam because there’s also a wolf who lives on the moor and pretty soon he's dressed like a sheep and knocking on Sam’s door. The 10 sheep know he’s not one of them, but Sam isn’t sure because he’s never able to count the sheep without falling asleep! Will the sheep be able to convince Sam before he let’s the wolf in the door?

The watercolor, pen and ink illustrations are angular, full of stripes, lines, and plaids. Ayto uses a pattern of overlapping squares to represent the moors, as well as the quilt on Sam’s bed. The rhyming text rolls off the tongue with ease. The indignant sheep frequently add their own two cents to the story. Their vocabulary shows they aren’t just dumb and boring sheep; they use words like, “uncouth” and “appalling.” The layout of the text is notable as well; the narrative says in nice, neat lines, but the dialogue from the sheep criss-crosses the page.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2...

[Melanie Hetrick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam has ten sheep and when he brings them in at night and tucks them in he wants to be sure that they are all there. But when he tries to count them he falls asleep by number 4! Of course the sheep are quite offended by this. Sam is honest and tells them that sheep are not the most exciting of animals and often make people sleepy.

When a wolf dressed in sheep's clothing knocks on the door one night begging to be let in, Sam wants to let him in. The other sheep know something is up and want Sam to count the sheep again so that he will know that the original ten are present and that this one at the door is an imposter! But what to do? Sam always falls asleep while counting sheep!

Finally the sheep find a way to keep Sam awake while he counts them. The wolf is sent packing and everyone falls back into bed and is quickly asleep. No counting needed.

[Andrew Stockle · Rating 2 out of 5]

46. “One more Sheep” is a story about a sheep farmer, “Sam”, who loses track of his sheep. He attempts to count them, but falls fast asleep. When he awakes he finds at his door, a wolf in sheep’s clothing claiming to be one more. The sheep try to warn him that the wolf is just dressed like them. Sam counts the sheep once more and realizes that this “sheep” at the door is one more than his ten and in-fact the wolf. This book has fantastic pictures, which are interactive and allow the children to count along with Sam up to ten. This book could be read to an entire classroom. The pictures are large enough to be seen from a slightly farther distance. This would be a great book for children who are just learning some basic numbers (1-10). I would use this book to reinforce basic counting.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, regardless of whether my son liked it or not (he seemed to enjoy it though). The rhyme is fun (favorite being the reference to the Land of Nod) and the story is funny. The illustrations are a little dark, but also witty and charming. It wasn't until I read it to him that I noticed when the sheep are startled their hats and socks fly off. Definitely a must try. Hopefully I can convince him to have this one read lots before we take it back.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a humorous book about a man who can't finish counting his sheep before falling asleep. The narrative is fun to read aloud and the illustrations are colorful and cartoonish. The style reminds me of Satoshi Kitamura's work. Our girls thought it was humorous that the man kept falling asleep, just like I do during storytime. We enjoyed reading this book together.

[Jenni · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read about a man who can't count his sheep even in the most dire need - every time he tries he falls asleep. It requires the sheep to come up with their own way of counting themselves, this makes great use of a fold out page.

A nice rhyming text adds a lot of character to this book, and the illustrations are cracking - no wonder it was shortlisted for the Kate Greenaway Medal back in 2005.

[Haidé (Nox Lectio) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Está muito mau tempo e o Gaspar quer resguardar as suas 10 ovelhas.

Mas não consegue contar até 10 porque adormece logo...

Será que se esqueceu realmente de uma lá fora?

A história de um lobo em pele de cordeiro, onde as ovelhas não se deixam enganar!

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.5 stars)

Sam counts sheep he brought in from the cold windy night to make sure they're all there. But, he falls asleep before he finishes counting. A wild and "wolfie" so-called sheep knocks on the door hoping to join them for dinner (oops, bedtime). Will Sam be able to stay awake and count if they're all there?

The rhyme is a little bit choppy at times for me.

[Mark Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

What's a poor farmer to do when counting his sheep puts him to sleep? Especially when the sheep know there's something not right. The book is fun and teaches counting in a creative way, but some of the rhymes are forced.

Read my full review at Carstairs Considers.

[Sophie]

I read this one with mommy and daddy one night before bed, but it was still a little over too old for me, and mommy tried to hide the scary wolf from me.
Update - April 2016 - Daddy started reading this one to me again and I enjoyed it. Now before bed, sometimes we pretend to fall asleep when counting sheep. Daddy starts snoring and I laugh out louid.

[Lucy Qhuay · Rating 3 out of 5]

From now on, I'll be reading and reviewing the books I bought or brought from the library to my 8-year-old sister, because they're books too and why not?

That being said, I really enjoyed this one. The illustrations were really sweet and the story was funny and I think that's just what a child looks for in a book.

Well done, Mij Kelly!

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

great read a loud for preschoolers about a shepherd who can't count his sheep because he falls asleep but when the wolf comes to call the sheep must come up with a creative way to prove that the wolf in sheep's clothing is really a wolf.

[Allison Redd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, rhyming tale about a man named Sam and his 10 sheep -- and one "extra" sheep aka a wolf. Found randomly at the library because I liked the artwork. Helps kids practice counting to ten, but mostly is cool because of the use of the word "wuthers."

[Leslie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious! Another great grab from the library. My 5 year old thought it looked delightful. He had figured out the story just by looking at the pictures and enjoyed the story. Great illustrations and rhythmic language add to the delights of this fun picture book!

[Alice · Rating 3 out of 5]

When you can't fall asleep you should count sheep...and then you fall asleep, and all the sheep don't get counted, and it makes the sheep sad...but what lengths will the sheep go to keep you awake?!? LOL