Sherman is a Slowpoke

Text: Mitchell Sharmat

Illustrations: David Neuhaus

Year: 1988

Publisher: Scholastic Inc., New York

Age: 6 - 8 years

No. of Pages: 32

Book Type: Picture book

ISBN:  978 0 59040 938 7

This is the first time, I've seen a sloth (that too the pre-historic kind!) as the central figure in a children’s book. Naturally, the slow pace of the animal is used to create some hilarious situations.

Meet Sherman the sloth who has spent all his life eating and sleeping around the family tree. When he meets Alice, another sloth who goes to Mr. Mammoth’s school, Sherman wants to join too. He wants to learn to think, too. :-)

Except that it takes more than a day to get there and his parents aren't too keen on his new idea, either.

Sherman makes it to school and despite jibes from his class-mates, he has a thought too. It’s what he wanted to learn!

Excerpt

“Sloths are always happy,” said his father, “as long as the leaves are green and the water is clean.”

“I want more,” said Sherman.

“I want to do things. I want to think. I want to go to school!”