Where is the Green Sheep?

Verdict: Masterpiece | Parent Survival: 10/10

This book is more creative and innovative than it has any right to be.

It’s a board book. The text is maybe 200 words total. Each page shows a different coloured sheep doing something—the blue sheep, the red sheep, the bath sheep, the bed sheep—while we keep asking: but where is the green sheep?

That’s it. That’s the whole book. And it might be the best children’s book ever made for babies.

The Sheep

What makes this book special is the imagination in every spread. There’s a sheep in a band. A sheep on a swing. A sheep in the rain, a sheep on a train. Each one doing something different, something worth pointing at, something worth naming.

And then there are the weird ones. There’s a sheep gazing lovingly at its own reflection in the water—unnamed, but we know what we’re looking at. There’s a business sheep in a suit, briefcase in hand. A scared sheep, a brave sheep. A sheep doing a handstand in the mud.

Judy Horacek’s illustrations are adorable. Simple, soft, expressive little sheep with just enough personality to make each one memorable. My kid has favourites. She points at the same ones every time.

The Rhythm

Mem Fox understands something that most children’s book authors don’t: rhythm isn’t about rhyming. It’s about the feel of words in your mouth when you read them aloud at 3am while your brain has left your body.

“Here is the blue sheep. And here is the red sheep. Here is the bath sheep. And here is the bed sheep.”

It’s not poetry. It’s a spell. The repetition is hypnotic. Your voice falls into a pattern. Your baby’s eyes get heavy. The pages turn almost by themselves.

The Reveal

After all these sheep doing various things—up sheep, down sheep, wind sheep, slide sheep—you finally turn to find the green sheep.

Asleep. Under a bush. Looking extremely peaceful.

“Shhh,” says the book.

Reader, I have whispered that “shhh” approximately eight thousand times. It has never failed to land. Even with a baby who was actively screaming thirty seconds earlier, that final page creates a moment of quiet conspiracy between parent and child.

The Best Book for Babies

I’ll say it plainly: this is arguably the single best book you can buy for a baby aged 6-18 months.

It’s captivating—there’s always something to look at, something to point at, something to name. It’s charming—the illustrations are genuinely lovely. It works at any time of day but especially at bedtime. It survives being chewed. The rhythm is so good that you can read it on autopilot while barely conscious.

Most baby books are either boring or chaotic. This one is neither. It’s perfectly calibrated.

Best For

Babies and toddlers aged 6 months to 3 years. Parents who need a reliable book that works every single time. Anyone looking for a gift for a new baby—this is the one.

Also by Mem Fox: Possum Magic, Koala Lou, Ten Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes. She has never written a children’s book that wasn’t carefully crafted to break your heart or put your child to sleep. Sometimes both.

Buy it here (Affiliate link. Green sheep preservation fund.)