Author: Graham Annable
Illustrator: Graham Annable
© Date: 2020
Publisher: First Second
Pages: 124
Chapters: No
Illustrations: Yes, graphic novel
Publisher Recommended Age: 6-10 years
Bonus Activities at End of Book: No
Summary from Book: Peter and Ernesto love the jungle, but it’s dangerous at night!
Clumsy bats…crazed owls..and maybe a dragon! There are countless things that go bump in the night.
So, one day, when Bernard goes missing at sunset, Peter and Ernesto bravely gather their family of sloths to form a search party.
Watch out, sloths! There are dangers in the shadows…beyond your wildest imaginings!
Note: This review is done from memory. I originally read this awhile ago.
Page Pig Thoughts: Peter and Ernesto leave me with a smile on my face. They have a simple plot, but I love seeing how the adventure plays out for the sloths with different personalities. The adventures have something that makes me laugh and include some unique animals that allow for learning opportunities. I looked up what a motmot was after reading this one. Even though the sloths do not look overly realistic, we enjoy them all the same.
This series gets a Page Pup thumbs up. Hooray for sloth stories!
Family Unit: Peter and Ernesto are best friends and live in a tree with some other sloths.
Conflict/Social Issues:
- Ernesto wants to go looking for a dragon that is rumored to be by the river, but Peter says dragons aren’t real.
- Ernesto enjoys adventures, but Peter likes to play things safe.
- The dragon was living at the temple because she lost hope for getting home to her friends and family when her boat broke apart.
Positive Items:
- Peter and Ernesto show that different personalities can make the perfect, complimentary friends.
- The sloths are willing to brave the jungle at night to look for their friend.
Items of Interest:
- Ernesto hears about a dragon living in their jungle, and he would like to see it. Peter says that dragons are not real.
- The sloths cannot find Bernard in their tree, and they go looking for him. Peter is very worried about predators in the night, but Ernesto says that Bernard probably went to see the dragon and is excited about the chance to see the dragon. Peter slightly overcomes his fears about the jungle at night because it is too late for Bernard to be out in the jungle at night.
- Ernesto makes some sleds out of bark for everyone to slide their way to the temple where the dragon is living. The sleds hit a bump, and the sloths fly through a tree into some moss.
- The sloths try to think like Bernard to help them locate him.
- An owl scares the sloths into the Dark Glades where they cannot see anything.
- Ernesto says that he is a little scared, so he asks Peter to sing a song. After all, maybe Bernard will hear it too.
- A glowing frog (polka-dot tree frog) enjoys the song and creates some light for the sloths. The frog wants to help the sloths look for their friend, so the frog calls to some frog friends. They make a lit up path for the sloths to find their way out of the Dark Glades into the moonlight.
- Ernesto is excited to take a zip line to the temple. Peter worries that the rope is not strong enough. Peter sings himself into enough confidence to be the last sloth to zip across. The line breaks and he falls into a tree. Peter then says that he will go by himself to the temple. Ernesto apologizes to Peter for not listening to his cautions, Peter says that it is okay and they are still friends no matter who’s right. After all, sometimes he’s right and sometimes he’s wrong.
- Peter follows the river to an otter that has a boat on the shore of the river. Peter helps the otter finish repairing a broken boat, then helps push it into the river. The river otter is excited that the boat will allow her to become an ocean otter. Peter and the otter sail down the river to the temple.
- Ernesto boldly goes into the temple and finds the dragon. Turns out the dragon had wanted to explore the world beyond her island, so she had built a boat and sailed the oceans. She became homesick, then unfortunately her boat smashed into a hundred pieces while taking a shortcut home through the river. Now she is just living in the temple because she lost hope in rebuilding the boat that was broken into hundreds of pieces. The sloths give her a hug.
- The otter is surprised to hear that her boat belonged to the dragon. The dragon says that the could share the boat, but after sailing home to Komodo, the otter can have the boat.
- The sloths are sad that they still don’t know where Bernard is. The dragon says not to lose hope, “great things happen when you least expect them to.”
- The sloths go home to their tree where they find Bernard sitting on a branch. Turns out he found a cozy knothole in the tree and had been napping.
Other Books in Series (At Time of Posting):
- Book 1 – Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths
- Book 2 – Peter & Ernesto: The Lost Sloths
