"Slowly, Slowly, Slowly," said the Sloth

by Eric Carle

Eric Carle (Illustrator)

Slowly, slowly, slowly . . . that's the way the sloth moves. Slowly, it eats and then, slowly, it falls asleep. "What strange kind of creature is this?" the other animals wonder. Why doesn't it run or fly or play or hunt like the rest of us? "Why are you so slow?" the howler monkey inquires. But the sloth doesn't answer any questions until the jaguar asks, "Why are you so lazy?"

Anyone who has ever felt too busy will appreciate the sloth's peaceful lifestyle and realize that it's okay to take time to enjoy life. Eric Carle' s dazzling collage illustrations introduce readers to the exotic beauty of the Amazon rain forest and the many unusual animals living there.

• ISBN10: 0142408476
• ISBN13: 9780142408476
• Publish Date: 10 May 2007 (first published 24 August 2002)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Penguin USA
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 32
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780142408476

Reviews

[mrs_mander_reads]

To be fair - Eric Carle is one of my all-time favorites. I try very hard to use as many of his books as possible in my classroom.
This book was my selection for letter S week - both because of the sloth, and because of the word "slowly". During the reading of the story, the students and I discussed what they knew about the various animals present (what they look like, what they sound like, what the eat, etc.). The story presents an opportunity to work with paired texts or to work with vocabulary (have a conversation about the difference between slow and lazy).
The book was almost out of reach for the kinder friends I have, but would be easily accessible for first or second graders, especially if being used with a nonfiction text.