SAM CAN’T SLEEP

In Sam Can’t Sleep by Davide Cali and Anna Aparicio Català, Sam can’t sleep. But why?

It’s nighttime and every animal around him is asleep, save for Sam, who is wide awake. Rather than toss and turn, he decides to leave his bed and get to the bottom of why he can’t sleep. He asks one animal after another, and all of them put him off because they are tired and DO want to sleep. But when he asks Crocodile, Crocodile surprises him with the truth behind his insomnia and Sam gets to know himself just a little bit better.

Spanish illustrator Català uses a limited color palette comprised mainly of overlapping primary colors with a green slant. Sam’s small white figure stands out against the dark sky and colorful forestry, highlighting his feelings of otherness amongst his animal friends. Every full-bleed spread features a single sleepy moment of interaction, and two of the spreads are wordless, punctuating pivotal moments in the story.

Sam Can’t Sleep published earlier this year from NubeOcho Books. 

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June 24, 2021 at 10:31AM noreply@blogger.com (Mel Schuit)