Where Do Seagulls Sleep At Night?

 Reviews for ‘Where do Seagulls Sleep at Night?’

 Written by Beverley Wilkes           Illustrated by Josephine Hemingway

Readers of this beautifully illustrated picture story book are asked to explore the interesting question posed by the title of ‘Where do Seagulls Sleep at Night?’ The simple text and accompanying pictures are perfect for younger children. Highly recommended.

Julie Cleveland, retired Teacher Librarian & Primary teacher

‘Where do Seagulls Sleep at Night?’ has wonderful illustrations and the text gave plenty of scope for lovely discussions with my little grandson. The story is simple and the concepts easy to grasp. I do thoroughly recommend this book for young children.

Gabrielle Leigh Educator

This delightful picture story book for young children starts with an open-ended question that stimulates curiosity, offers a series of possible solutions and ultimately leaves it up to the reader – or listener – to decide on an answer or seek additional information. Each pair of pages is unique with its alliterative text, quirky responses to sleeping places for seagulls, stunning colour choices and graphic illustrations. We move gently from sunny yellow sand dunes, past teal green tea trees, to bold orange and pink boat sheds, a blue boat ramp, a red rowing boat beneath a purple sky, scrunchy orange seashells, rugged grey rocks, a tall red lighthouse, a cool cricket oval, and finally a deep blue night sky filled with flying seagulls. The story finishes with several questions: ‘So where do you think the seagulls sleep at night? What do you think? Do you know?’ encouraging young children to come up with their own ideas, or further explore the ones suggested in this book. ‘Where do Seagulls Sleep at Night?’ promotes diverse discussion topics and follow-on activities within both family settings and classrooms.

Linda Carter

(Retired) Primary School Teacher and writer

As an educator of over 40 years, I am delighted to be able to write a review of this picture story book, ‘Where do Seagulls Sleep at Night?’

Imagine some of the answers you may get if you asked this question of a child before you even read the book! Right from the beginning, this book fires up the imagination. Once immersed in the story, teachers, parents and other adults will experience an insight into the workings of young minds as they turn from page to page trying to unravel the answer to this question whilst posing questions of their own.

I have a Post-Graduate qualification in Educational Studies and Curriculum Design and therefore was very pleased to see this book covering so many aspects of our Curriculum. This book doesn’t just challenge the imagination of the young child but also of the adult reading the book to its intended audience. It is obvious this book is made richer because of the experience both the author and the illustrator have as teachers. The wonderful use of colour complements the text with vivid attention to detail. What I particularly enjoyed about this book was that a problem is posed from the title, but it is not about finding one solution, it is about the thinking process the reader will be able to encourage young minds to explore. This book is filled with fun, colour, clever use of language and imagination.

Mary Anderson