We currently have a sloth-obsessed second-grader in our house so this was the perfect find for us. We enjoyed learning about the evolution of species - there was an 8,000 pound sloth?! - and the illustrations are vibrant and fun. Some of the formatting wasn’t quite for us, with a whole lot of information on a single page, so this didn’t lend itself to being a read aloud as much as a good nonfiction pick for independent readers. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance copy. All opinions are entirely my (and my three young readers’) own.

Thanks to Netgalley and WW Norton & Company for this sloth-filled ARC!

This was so fascinating, full of sloth facts of many types. The art was so cute! My one complaint was some sections in the ebook (I got it from my library as well to check) seem to be in an odd order. For example, it wants to compare modern sloths to prehistoric ones over 4 pages, the first describing modern traits and ending with modern sloths live in trees, but…The second page features an individual modern sloth and THEN the third goes back to comparing modern to prehistoric followed by a fourth page featuring a prehistoric species. I think it would’ve made more sense to have two pages comparing followed by two featuring. Overall, we enjoyed this!

Listen. If you don't appreciate sloths then we cannot be friends. The illustrations in this book are beautiful and we will be getting a physical copy for our bookshelf ASAP. Not only that but you also learn while reading this book. My kids are going to love it and I think we'd have to follow up reading it with a trip to the Aviary to see one in person.

This is such a fun, fact-filled book. Although it's marketed as a children's book, it easily holds an adult's attention, especially for those fascinated by this unique animals! Elizabeth Shreeve does an excellent job bringing sloths' history and place in the environment to life.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company. I'm voluntarily leaving a review.

Genre: Non-fiction Picture Book
Age: Best for 6-11 years old (Or 101 years old if you love picture books and sloths.)

*THE UPSIDE-DOWN BOOK OF SLOTHS* is full of facts and interesting tidbits about the evolution and life of modern-day sloths.

Kids will love seeing the skeletons and all the hanging sloths from different eras. They really are adorable!

There is a lot of info on every page—I wish it was broken into smaller sections or bubbles to make it easier to read. But that's just me. There are several times where I couldn't wait to turn the page to find out what was next.

This is a delightful book and kids will love searching through it again and again.

I highly recommend this book!

Happy (slothful) reading!

The Upside-Down Book of Sloths, written by Elizabeth Shreeve and illustrated by Isabella Grott, is currently scheduled for release on September 5 2023. Many find sloths cute, while some find them just plain bizarre. This book shares the less-well-known evolutionary history of sloths and how they became the beloved—and unique—creatures of today. The author pairs and compares the six extant modern species, like the pygmy sloth, the brown-throated sloth, and the ai, with their prehistoric counterparts, such as Thalassocnus, the tough seafaring sloth; Paramylodon, which had armor-like skin and walked on the sides of its feet; and Megatherium, which could weigh up to 8,000 pounds. She even reveals how modern sloths have adapted to hang upside down, how they learned to swim, and even how they poop!

The Upside-Down Book of Sloths is an entertaining, cute, and informative book for readers of all ages that want to know more about sloths. I thought the art work was extremely well done. The sloths looked very real, many images looking like photographs. The skill and work that went into the art is impressive, and frankly makes to book worth flipping through for the art alone. However, that is not to say that the text is not well done or important, it is both. I found the information to be well written and organized. The text is more aimed at the upper elementary and older readers- especially for those loving the sloth or doing a research project on them. However, the artwork and text combined make this a great book to share with he younger readers as well. As someone that loves reading about the less expected animals, including sloths, I still learned a great deal about these creatures and their history. Best of all, the author includes a time line and recommendations for further reading at the end of the book. This is a great addition to public, school, and personal library collections.

Beautiful illustrations!
Really cool history and educational information about sloths.
I thought it would be a picture book with a cute story about sloths instead I found a beautifully illustrated educational book about sloths. Well done !
Thank you to Netgalley for a download in exchange for an unbiased review.

The Upside-Down Book of Sloths is a brilliant educational book about the adorable sloth. Did you know that there were prehistoric sloths the size of elephants! Yikes! This book is full of lots of fun facts, both about sloths as we know them today, but also about the history of sloths and the different sloths that used to roam the earth! Adorable illustrations and tons of fun things to learn in this beautiful book!

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this advanced review copy (ARC) in exchange for my honest review on the book!

Who doesn’t love Sloths ? This book is filled so much information about the origins and evolution of Sloths that I could not put it down .

This book would make a wonderful addition to any bookshelf.

I just reviewed The Upside-Down Book of Sloths by Elizabeth Shreeve, Illustrated by Isabella Grott. #TheUpsideDownBookofSloths #NetGalley

My two young boys and I loved learning all about sloths! This adorable and educational children's book is great for adults as well. We learned so many things about different types of sloths, sloth history, characteristics, and more. This would be a great book for the classroom, young readers, and animal lovers. We also really enjoyed the illustration.

Thank you to NetGalley and W. W. Norton & Company, Norton Young Readers for allowing me to be an early reader in exchange for my honest review.

The Upside-Down Book of Sloths is fully of information and even as an adult I learned a lot about sloths! The pictures are incredible with great detail that helps you understand more about the topic and keeps younger children involved. Even though a lot of the information was over my 4 year old's head (better suited for 6-10 year olds), he repeatedly asked to keep reading it and did not want to stop. This would be an excellent addition to a unit on the jungle or sloths or even a great free reading book. This is an excellent example of engaging and not at all boring non-fiction. It should be a part of all children's libraries!

This book is a lovely introduction to the six types of sloths that live in Central and South America as well as some of the dozens that used to walk the earth (and in one case swam the sea) millions of years ago. Comparing the three-toed sloths with their “bandit-like masks” and the larger two-toed sloths to those we have learned about through their fossils, we discover how they live, sleep, raise their young and poop.

While I’ve yet to meet a sloth, I’ve read about them, fallen in love with some cuties I’ve seen in documentaries and have bought my mother, who adores them even more than I do, all manner of sloth merchandise. Did you know you can buy sloth bandaids?

This was a quick, enjoyable read that taught me some new fun facts. My top three are:

🦥 The largest tree sloths grow to 32 inches (81cm) and weigh up to 24 pounds (10.9kg). That’s tiny when you compare it to the <I>Megatherium</I>, a giant ground sloth, that lived 10 million years ago. It grew to 18 feet (almost 5.5m) and weighed around 8,000 pounds (3,628kg)!

🦥 Sloths move about 13 feet per minute through trees and about one foot a minute on the ground. They’re good swimmers, moving three times as fast in the water than they do on land.

🦥 It takes more than a month for a sloth to digest a meal.

Isabella Grott’s illustrations are gorgeous, showcasing species both past and present.

Kid me definitely would have borrowed this book from the library for a school project.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Norton Young Readers, an imprint of W. W. Norton & Company, for the opportunity to read this book.

This book is has lots of great illustrations and facts about sloths. All of the information is broken down into little digestible nuggets that make it fun to learn. The book compares modern day sloths to their giant extinct ancestors. Anyone interested in these adorable creatures will find something to love about this book. Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in return for my honest opinion.

Omg, I love sloths but this book was not only adorable and happy BUT also really informative! I’ve yet to see a sloth book that also looks at the ancestors of sloths and I LOVED that this book brought new information that I (a sloth lover) didn’t already know!

My son and I really enjoyed this educational book about sloths. I learned so many things that I had never heard before. The illustrations and text are both very engaging. Definitely a great book for any child interested in sloths.

Thank you NetGalley and Norton Young Readers/W.W. Norton & Company for the opportunity to read "The Upside-Down Book of Sloths" in exchange for my honest review.

This book is wonderfully illustrated with fantastic images of sloths. Who doesn't love a cuddly looking sloth? The information is interesting and the reader will learn the differences between the 6 different types of sloths. Each type of sloth has a description but also the range they live/lived in, their maximum size, the time period they live/lived in, what their name means and their current status (whether they are endangered or not). There are comparisons to things that the reader will have knowledge of so they can imagine the size of the sloth. There is also lots of information on how they migrated, how they find food, how tree sloths will only leave the tree once a week because they hate to move. It was very interesting to compare the sloths movement to a humans - where a sloth will cover 13 feet/minute, a human will cover 270 feet in the same amount of time. They are excellent swimmers which was surprising to learn. Sloths are loners and like to hang alone in their tree, their slow movements keep them safe from predators.

At the end of the book there is a Timeline of Sloth History as well as a list of places where you can learn more about sloths - books and websites.

This book would be wonderful for elementary children who might be assigned a project on sloths. It is also a wonderful read-aloud for younger children who are fascinated by these wonderful animals.

What is it about sloths that makes them so adorable? I was enchanted by them when we visited Costa Rica; when I saw this offering on Netgalley, I couldn’t resist it.

This is a beautifully illustrated book that tells you everything you ever wanted to know about sloths. They have inhabited the Americas for 40 million years and the narrative switches back and forth between sloths of today and those of prehistoric times. It is fascinating to learn about their size, habitat, habits, how they survive. It surprised me to learn that they once had a presence in what is now the United States and there are some that were aquatic! I loved their physical comparison to a baked potato!

I think this would work best for families to read together or for middle grade students.

Get book for those who have a sloth phase instead of a shark/dino phase (no matter the age)!! If you're a librarian or bookstore of any kind, this is a must for all your sloth-loving fiends!!

For both the Sloth and Dinosaur enthusiast, The Upside-Down Book of Sloths is an exploration of the modern tree sloth and its ties to a long-distant relative, the ground walking sloth . Young readers will love to get some little known facts regarding how many types of Sloths there are currently along with lifestyle habits and their risk factors in a colorful, engaging manner. More than that, the connection to land roaming prehistoric sloths might catch some readers delightfully by surprise. Learning the sloth poops weekly. That's right, weekly, and it's a whole thing will most likely have the young reader giggling. I imagine there will be some adults that will learn a thing or two about this cute creature such as the symbiotic relationship of algae growing on the sloth's fur and moths.

Excellent book to have in schools and home libraries for its educational value and its nod to endangered animals.

Thank you to W.W. Norton & Company along with Netgalley for early access to an e-copy. All opinions are my own.

This book has great illustrations. Many facts about sloths, even ones I had not known. Cute for a younger kid to have read to them but information targeting an older elementary reader.