Pistes d'exploration

In a comic strip, use pictures and words to tell about your bedtime routine. Share with a partner and note how your routines are similar or different. Make text-to-self connections as you read.

Discuss the title. What do you think it means to “sleep like a tiger”? What if you replaced tiger with a different animal? What could it mean to sleep like a snake, giraffe or spider, for example?

Identify and list the toy and real animals in the illustrations. How do they help the girl fall asleep?

Mime an animal from the story going to sleep. See if your classmates can guess what kind of animal you are.

Learn and practise the vocabulary related to bedtime routines and animals.

Listen to the story read aloud by the teacher. Discuss your bedtime routine and sleeping style.

Match labels and illustrations of any new vocabulary.

Use model sentences from the text to write a personalized version of your sleeping routine.

The Napping House, While You Were Napping

Mots-clés

Picture book , animals , bedtime , family life , night , poetic language , sleep

Commentaire descriptif

This lyrical narrative tells the familiar story of a little girl who doesn’t feel tired even though the sun has set. Her understanding parents reassure her she doesn’t need to go to bed, just get into pyjamas, wash her face and brush her teeth. They tell her she can stay up as long as she needs to, all the while gently steering her toward sleep. She wonders if animals need to rest, and her mild-mannered parents begin to explore the habits of animal slumber together with their restless daughter. Finally, the little girl finds a warm spot in her bed and nestles into sleep like the tiger in the jungle. Illustrations shine with their luminous and layered qualities, incorporating a surreal dreamscape into the everyday world of a child’s home. Textures and patterns are particularly vivid with etchings in paint that give a visceral feel to the skin of a whale’s circling body, gold embossed wallpaper and starry night pyjamas. The whimsical charm of the imagery mirrors the poetic, yet simple text. Realistic dialogue between parents and child morphs into a fanciful exploration of animal sleep habits. Nocturnal bats “sleep hanging upside down in the safest place in the barn” during the day, while snails “curl up like a cinnamon roll inside their shell.” This endearing and beautiful story handles everyday concerns with a delicate touch.