My middle son loves pugs, but my favorite animal has to be the sloth. They’re just the right mix of lazy and adorable, and the faces they make are absolutely hilarious! I’m always sneaking books about sloths into our library pile. Thankfully, the kids don’t object too much!
If you’re a sucker for sloths, you’ll want to check out these darling sloth picture books.
7 Children’s Books About Sloths
Book links are Amazon referral links
The Very Sleepy Sloth by Andrew Murray — All of the other animals want to know why the sloth sleeps so much. To them, it doesn’t make sense. In response, the sloth challenges them to do the job of another animal. It turns out that each animal has something that they do best, and for the sloth it’s sleeping! This is a great story about being an individual.
“Slowly, Slowly, Slowly,” Said the Sloth by Eric Carle — The other animals just do not understand the sloth. He’s slow, he sleeps all the time, and the other animals assume that he is lazy. However, the sloth teaches them a lesson about living life slowly, and appreciating all it has to offer.
Sloth Slept On by Frann Preston-Gannon — A group of kids find an odd creature sleeping in a tree, and the set off to find out what it is. Throughout their search, the mysterious creature continues to sleep, while the kids continually miss the news that a sloth has escaped from the local zoo. Kids won’t be able to resist this silly story!
Sparky! by Jenny Offill — A little girl is told by her mother that she can get a pet, “as long as it doesn’t need to be walked, bathed, or fed.” A conversation with the school librarian leads the little girl to choose a sloth. Her sloth does play games or fetch like other pets, but she ends up falling in love with Sparky all the same. I fell in love with this book, in part because of the beautiful illustrations by Chris Appelhans.
A Little Book of Sloth by Lucy Cooke — This book introduces the reader to the sloths of the Avarios Sloth Sanctuary in Costa Rica. You’ll meet the first sloth resident, Buttercup, and all of her incredibly cute friends. Each sloth has a unique personality and story!
Snoozefest by Samantha Berger — Snoozefest is THE place to be for animals who love to sleep, and Snuggleford Cuddlebun knows she can’t miss it. The live lullabies and designer pajamas make the event so relaxing Snuggleford does what sloths do best — she sleeps through the whole thing!
Slow, Slow Sloths by Bonnie Bader — This non-fiction early reader combines amazing sloth facts with awesome photos. The easy-to-read text makes it perfect for young readers, but it also makes a great read aloud for young sloth lovers.
