Growing up as I kid, I looked forward to my bedtime story at night, both being read to and reading on my own. Some of my favorite bedtime stories were Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, The Stinky Cheese Man, The True Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Hungry Caterpillar, The Rainbow Fish, The Poky Little Puppy, The Bailey School Kids series, Wayside School is Falling Down, and If You Give A Mouse a Cookie. The tradition of loving bedtime stories is genetic in my family; my 9-year old niece always gets (and has gotten) bedtime stories. An indicator that my niece is growing up too fast is that she is now reading some of the same chapter books I read as a kid (i.e. Bailey School Kids is one of her favorite along with The Magic Treehouse series). Therefore, I am always on the lookout for "can't-pass-up" books for her to add to her bookshelves, and if I can find these books without having to subject myself to actually perusing the shelves of the children section in the bookstore or libraries the better (I have been told there could be high concentrations of children present in these sections, so I am all for avoiding them altogether).
At the Seattle Public Library they have "must-read" books that the librarians recommend. This month, one of the recommendations for children was A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke. Now I am a sucker for cute and adorable animals and that is the primary reason I could never become a veterinarian, because I would be the person with a thousand animals. Besides the video of a laughing penguin being tickled, I think this has to be the cutest and most precious things I have seen including animals.
After reading it, I am incredibly envious of a sloth's way of life. People talk about how leisurely the European lifestyle is and how here in America everything is rushed and people just do not take enough time to really enjoy and savor life. Although my opinion is that life is what you make of it, I think the sloth has the perfect lifestyle of relaxing and Europeans would be incredibly jealous. The sloth's lifestyle motto is JUST CHILL.
Besides the overall cuteness of this book, it also has educational value for the readers. But as the back cover of the book states, "Baby sloths can be highly addictive. Prepare yourself for cute overload!" My favorite sloth featured in the book is Mateo. The sloth yearbook at the end is heart-melting. Here are some of the things one can expect to learn:
- Sloths have either two or three digits
- They are masters of mellow
- You cannot wake a sloth up by screaming "BOO"because their nerves do not react to loud noises
- Baby sloths in captivity cannot control their body temperatures, so they must wear customized onesies (and these pictures in the book are epically cute)
- You learn what a "cuddle puddle" is in the book
- Sloths receive rehab therapy when they have injuries (i.e. spinal injuries)
- At the sloth sanctuary, sloths go to the "slothpital" for receiving treatments
- Sloths have an extra neck vertebrae, which means they give owls a run for their money with neck flexibility; a sloth can rotate it's neck 270 degrees
- Part of a sloth's routine at the sanctuary is that they take baths in green leaf teas
- Sloth's top speed is 15 feet a minute
- Sloths have terrible table manners and most likely fall asleep in their food
- Hibiscus flowers are like chocolate to a sloth
- Potty training a sloth at the sanctuary is no easy task and you definitely need the right poo pole
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