Sophie and Sammy's Library Sleepover by Judith Caseley

 

Sophie and Sammy's Library Sleepover 

(Greenwillow; 1st edition-1993)

By: Judith Caseley

Grade: K-2

Sophie and Sammy's Library Sleepover is a really cute book about a sister who loves to read and a brother who destroys and throws books. Their mother takes Sophie to a library sleepover, which isn't really a sleepover. The kids and the librarian dressed in their pajamas and read stories, just for fun! It was so great and Sophie loved it except she wishes her brother Sammy went with her. When she gets home, she decides to have her own library sleepover with Sammy, reading him every book she knows how to read. Sammy grows a new appreciation for reading and Sophie says she is going to be a librarian when she grows up. It is an inspiring story especially for all those young students who have not developed the enjoyment factor from reading. It can be so much fun!

Theme/Skills Taught: Appreciation for reading/Presenting


About the Author: Judith was born in a small town in New Jersey in a converted army development where all of the houses were white. Her mother compensated by decorating the bedrooms with vibrant colors. She went to Syracuse University and majored in English, but when the reading became too much she switched to art. During her four years in college, she never took a course in illustration. Ten years later she was an author and illustrator of children's books. She takes small events from her life or the lives of her children and fictionalizes them. She doesn't mention which event inspired this book but a lot of her others are inspired by her children and it is so interesting how she creatively transforms their lives into a children' book.About Judith Caseley

Pre-Reading Activities: Do an interest inventory about their feelings about reading.Then, you can go over some of the results with the class because there are bound to be students who LOVE reading and those who think they HATE it. Each of the students can relate to someone in the story, which is why it is such a great read. Our goal is to get students to grow an appreciation for reading and this book teaches just that.


Post Reading Activities: Choose a book that you love to read and write a journal entry about what you imagine as you read it. One of the emphasis in the book is creating images in your head as you read because there will not always be picture books available (or assigned). It is great to teach kids to imagine things as they read and create a picture in their head so they can relate.