Champion Sleeper! by Tim Young

• 12/18/2013
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Champion Sleeper!
Tim Young
Murphy’s Bone Publishing (2008)
ISBN 9780974822617
Reviewed by Conner (age 4) and Mom for Reader Views (5/08)

Champ was a basset hound who had a habit of falling asleep anywhere and anytime. The remarkable thing is that he would fall asleep in/on/around places that his family wanted to avoid.  This saved the family quite a bit of trouble. That makes you wonder if Champ did it by accident or knew where he was sleeping?

“I think I like it and he’s a champion sleeper and I’m a champion waker!”

“Do you think Champ was pretending to be asleep?”

“He was always napping. He saved the day by lying in the hose. He saved the grandma from slipping on the banana peel.”

“Do you think you could fall asleep on all that stuff?”

“No, I can’t sleep on juice. Too wet.”

“Do you think it is possible to lie on the keyboard and save a file?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because you can’t do that. You need two things on your face to do that. It’s impossible. Are you writing that? Our dogs can’t do that.”

“What do you think makes him a champ?”

“He’s good at things like sleeping.”

“Do you think this is a true story?”

“No, it’s just making up funny stuff.”

Parent’s comment:
“Champion Sleeper” is a good conversation about coincidences and intentions. Also it highlights a trait that may not seem helpful but in some situations is very useful. What was also fun was the book’s use of idioms and word play, like “A fish out of water” and “You Shoes, You Lose.” My son is just understanding homonyms and making jokes, so the introduction of new phrases was fun to explain.