Sleep Like a Tiger
Illustrated by Pamela Zagarenski, Written by Mary Logue

Publisher’s Summary:
In this magical bedtime story, the lyrical narrative echoes a Runaway Bunny – like cadence: “Does everything in the world go to sleep?” the little girl asks. In sincere and imaginative dialogue between a not-at-all sleepy child and understanding parents, the little girl decides “in a cocoon of sheets, a nest of blankets,” she is ready to sleep, warm and strong, just like a tiger. The Caldecott Honor artist Pamela Zagarenski’s rich, luminous mixed-media paintings effervesce with odd, charming details that nonsleepy children could examine for hours. A rare gem.

Primary Source Pairing:
Illustrator Pamela Zagarenski is an incredible artist. Her artwork takes you to a faraway place full of whimsy, adventure, and imagination. In Sleep Like a Tiger, the calming tones of the words and the coziness of the illustrations lull the reader right to sleep. For this primary source pairing, invite students to study an image of Pamela Zagarenski’s storyboard for the book.

Pamela Zagarenski’s comments on the storyboard:
“Only after I can really feel the book do I then take the text and break it down into working pages… and imagine the flow of the book in tiny little sketches” (Amazon).

Questions for Discussion:

• Describe what you see.
• What do you notice first?
• How much of the text can you read? What does it say?
• What do you see that looks strange or unfamiliar?
• How are the words arranged?
• What do you notice about the page the writing appears on?
• What do you see on the page besides writing?
• What other details can you see?
• What do you see that you can’t explain?
• How does this storyboard help you understand the story?

Credits:
Book Cover and Summary: Follett
Sleep Like a Tiger Storyboard: Amazon.com