Pajama Press

A small school in North Bay, Ontario hosted a remarkable event for Family Literacy Day this week.

Stephanie meeting her audience

Stephanie McLellan, author of Hoogie in the Middle, heard about the event. Undeterred by a long, snowy drive and the expectation of a small audience (J.W. Trusler only has about 150 students), she decided to attend herself. The school staff, eager to welcome an award-winning author, spread the word to families, baked cookies, and acquired enough milk and books for a crowd.

Debbie Woods introducing Stephanie

Debbie Woods, the teacher who organized the event, described families using blankets and pillows to create cozy campsites on the gym floor while they listened to the stories. Stephanie McLellan called it “a fantastic event” on social
media, adding that “Debbie had a goodie bag for every family which included a book…”

Pajama Press is pleased to announce that Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That, written by Victoria Allenby and illustrated by Tara Anderson, has won the 2014 Preschool Reads Award.

Developed by Wee Read Guelph, Wellington, and Dufferin County, the Preschool Reads program is a reader’s choice award for young children who listen to a shortlist of four titles and vote for their favourite. This year’s shortlist also included:

• I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
• The Yoga Game by Kathy Beliveau and Farida Zaman
• Where do you Look? by Marthe and Neil Jocelyn

Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That is featured in the January/February 2014 issue of Chirp Magazine, the theme of which is “Time for Bed!” Reviewers have also been charmed by this determinedly dozy feline. Here’s what some of them had to say:

“…Allenby and Anderson have captured a cat any young ailurophile will recognize. The simple rhyming text listing the odd (yet realistic) places Nat can sleep during the daytime and all the silly mischief he and his black-and-white kitten sidekick get up to at night will hook young listeners. The watercolor, acrylic and pencil illustrations of floppy, goggle-eyed Nat and his buddy are a just-right pairing.

Good kitty fun that will demand repeated reads.”—Kirkus Reviews

“In Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That, author Victoria Allenby’s poetic text and illustrator Tara Anderson’s whimsical art lulls kids – and kitten – to sleep, making it a lovely bedtime read

But it’s more than a bedtime story: it’s a tale of friendship and acceptance. It’s a story in which kids safely explore relational differences and boundaries through the eyes of cats.

…. Parents and teachers will love Allenby’s word play. Her use of repetition and alliteration is calming and her steady cadence is mesmerizing. Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That is a story of love and limits… and it might just induce a good night’s sleep.”—The National Reading Campaign

“The rhyming word choice is spare in this delightful picture book for younger children, and deliberately so….Tara Anderson’s illustrations are whimsical and fun… Although the illustrations complement the story, they also tell a story of their own, encouraging children, and their grownups, to read the story again and again.

The mood of the book is playful, easily appealing to a preschool audience. Victoria Allenby’s title is a perfect choice for bedtime and storytimes for young children. Highly Recommended.”—CM Magazine ****/4

“This rhyming story has a playful tone, great for reading aloud to preschoolers. The adorable illustrations by Tara Anderson, rendered primarily in pencil crayon, will appeal to the target audience a great deal, and may even inspire them to try their hand at similar drawings. The onomatopoeia in words like “whoosh,” “shush” and “hush” further add to the light heartedness of the book, and will be fun for kids to imitate.”—Resource Links

Click here for full reviews. You can also download Nat the Cat Can Sleep Like That  worksheets to help kids learn about prepositions and rhyming.

Happy reading!