Friendship and Winter Fun

I thought that Katy Hudson's first book, "Too Many Carrots", was appealingly drawn and cheery enough, but a little strong on the sharing message. This book is, if anything, loaded with even more appealing characters, but it is content to tell a simple tale of friendship and fun, without any other baggage.

Tortoise wants to nap away the winter, (sadly, I'm literal enough that this book actually led me to look up whether tortoises hibernate, which they do), but he keeps being "disturbed" by friends who invite him to join in various winter activities. Tortoise is perhaps a touch grumpy about this, but mostly he just keeps looking around for a quiet place to nap. Ultimately he does get drawn into an activity, has a grand time, and parties away the winter with his friends. It's all in good fun, and pretty mellow.

The main appeal, to me, was the illustrations in this one. Tortoise's various hideouts are cleverly imagined and represented. The various winter games to which he is invited do appear to be fun. The other woodland creatures look like they'd be fun pals. The entire project has high energy, good spirits, a nice winter feel, and a friendly appeal. The drawings are inviting, with nice pencil work and good colors. The characters are more expressive and personable than the usual generic characters. Indeed, there are quite a few little drawn jokes and bits of business tucked into the pages that add interest and re-readability.

So, this ended up being a cheerful, happy and perfectly satisfying find. A good choice. (Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

It was ok... nothing memorable. Probably will not purchase for the library.

A Loud Winter's Nap by Katy Hudson is a children's picture book follow-up to <i> Too Many Carrots.</i>

Tortoise is ready to settle down and sleep for the winter, but everyone else has different intentions! Follow along in the story to see if Tortoise ever get's his winter sleep.

We loved this book! It's a perfect short and simple story for young readers. The illustrations are so vibrant and detailed.

5*****