They're BAAaak! Sheep Go To Sleep by Nancy Shaw

SCREECHES! RUSTLING! NOISY CRICKETS!
SHEEP HEAR HOOTS FROM NEARBY THICKETS.

NIGHTTIME NOISES SCARE THE SHEEP.
REALLY, WHO COULD GO TO SLEEP?

Sheep are a natural for a sleepytime story, except--these five sheep can't get to sleep.

They've got winking fireflies to light their way and get them in the mood to snooze; they've got a fold filled with fluffy straw. So what's missing in this nocturnal mix?

Security, that's what. Sheep are not good sleepers! Why do you think they're up, nervously jumping fences at all hours, while wakeful wannabe snoozers are counting them from their beds?

Luckily, these sheep have just what they need, a watchful sheepdog, in the form of a jolly boarder collie pup who knows just what each sheep needs to get to sleep. The count goes up as Sheep One succumbs to snores after a snuggly doggy hug. Sheep Two needs a sip of water before he goes under, and Sheep Three is lured into slumber by a lullaby.

THREE SLEEP. HOW MANY MORE?

With three down, the last two sheep drop off in sleep with the delivery of that tried-and true bedtime duo--the Teddy bear and the blankie! It's all in a night's work for their watchdog, who finally gets his own forty winks, in Nancy Shaw's eighth in series, Sheep Go to Sleep (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015).

This newest in Shaw's Sheep Series has all the elements that have delighted children from the first book, Sheep in a Jeep--rhythmic rhyming couplets that feel just right, and Margot Apple's beguilingly silly sheep, their expressive faces and body language softly sketched in colored pencil. Artist Apple adds a quizzical observer to the pictures, a sleepy seagull who seems to have wandered into the story simply to nab a nap herself, and Shaw also slips in a bit of counting practice for the youngest sheep fans. Altogether a sweetly suggestive bedtime soother that can't help but induce sleepiness at just the right time of night.

Sheep in a Winding Sheet? Sheep Trick or Treat by Nancy Shaw

When the October moon rises, sheep don disguises. They make like an ape and try fangs and a cape.

Sheep rip scraps for mummy wraps.

There's no mystery here. It's time to hit the street and baa for some treats.

The sheep are pleased with their transformations. A twosome gorilla towers over a woolly dino, a vampire flashes fangs, and the mummy is well under wraps, as the sheep set out, certain they are safe in their undercover costumes.

Sheep bleat,"Trick or treat!"

The sheep stop at the stable and hit up the horses for quite a haul--oats and apples and sweet lumps of sugar. A spider offers a dead fly, but the sheep pass that one by. (Wouldn't ewe?) The chickens in their coops hand out eggs--but OOOPS! The eggs are scrambled and the sheep scram!

At the barn the cows offer clover. The sheep's pumpkins are finally filled. Is Halloween over?

But there's still the long, dark walk through the woods to their fold. What are those scary noises? And what are those fleecy shapes with hairy gray tails?

It's the wolves--in sheep's clothing! Have the cunning wolves pulled the wool over their eyes this time?

Will the sheep be fleeced? Or will they foil the wolves with something really spooky?

All's well that ends well, in the brand-new board book edition of Nancy Shaw's Sheep Trick or Treat (board book) (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2017 ) If the sheep can handle a jeep, they can surely trick the wolves for a happy repast safe in their fold at last. Shaw's narration make good use of her lively lines with internal rhymes, and Margot Apple's signature sheep make for a jolly group of Halloween-goers, in itself a treat for the upcoming scary season.

Other popular favorites by Shaw and Apple include Sheep in a Jeep (board book), Sheep Out to Eat and Sheep Go to Sleep (board book) (Sheep in a Jeep). (see review here).