Articles posted by Jennifer Black Reinhardt

Author: Jennifer Black Reinhardt

Jennifer is the illustrator and author of several acclaimed picture books. Most recently is Always by My Side, 'A Stuffie Story', which she wrote and illustrated. She also is both the author and illustrator of Playing Possum, and Blue Ethel. Jennifer illustrated Gondra’s Treasure, written by Newbery award winner Linda Sue Park. As well as, Sometimes You Fly, by Newbery medalist, Katherine Applegate. She illustrated Yaks Yak, Animal Word Pairs by Linda Sue Park, The Inventor's Secret, What Thomas Edison Told Henry Ford, by Suzanne Slade, Rabbi Benjamin's Buttons, by Alice B. McGinty, and The Adventures of a South Pole Pig, by Chris Kurtz.

HEATWAVE by Lauren Redniss is hot stuff

In a sea of picture books that look so much alike… HEATWAVE, written and superbly illustrated by Lauren Redniss burns right off the shelf. It almost looks too hot to touch. Lauren Redness uses just three colors: red, blue, and black (plus, minimally, the white of the page) along with …

BIRD REHEARSAL by Jonah Winter & Stacy Innerst

Kirkus’s review about BIRD REHEARSAL, with words by Jonah Winter and superbly illustrated by Stacy Innerst, says that reading it aloud “creates a kind of infectiously joyful mouth music.” ❤️ This is a picture book of bird song. Different birds appear spread by spread creating a building cacophony— until the …

DANCING HANDS, The Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language

DANCING HANDS, The Story of Friendship in Filipino Sign Language written by Joanna Que and Charina Marquez, illustrated by Fran Alvarez, is the story of how two children become friends through Filipino sign language and simply the act of sharing, bonding, and learning how to communicate with each other. This …

How Dreadful! by Claire Lebourg

I always say that Creatives are extremely brave. To share one’s work is such a vulnerable thing to do and I am proud of and applaud every single one of us for doing it. That might be why I adored this book so much. How Dreadful!, by Claire Lebourg and …

The Red Jacket

The Red Jacket by Bob Holt mixes character and humor to tell the perfect story about making friends and fitting in. This is a wonderful picture book to point out how both the illustrations and spare text is used to take turns telling the story. At the beginning, we meet …

Who Will Make the Snow?

I am cheating a little bit. Because this wonderfully whimsical book, Who Will Make the Snow, written by Taras Prokhasko, and written and illustrated by Mariana Prokhasko, and translated from the Ukrainian by Boris Dralyuk and Jennifer Croft, isn’t “technically” a picture book. It’s 80 pages long and stated that …

A Thing Called Snow

I’m in love with the illustrations of this gorgeous picture book, A THING CALLED SNOW by Yuval Zommer. It’s a sweet, beautiful book perfect for the holiday season. “Fox and Hare were born in the spring, grew up in the summer, and were best of friends by autumn.” The two …

When the Fog Rolls In

Well, I seem to be following Pat’s post with another grief book recommendation. Could it be that we (as adults and readers) feel we might be needing these right now? Pam Fong’s gorgeous new picture book WHEN THE FOG ROLLS IN is a story about grief, sadness, hardship, loss, and …

HIDING~Finding Quiet in a Busy World

HIDING, written and illustrated by Kate Pugsley is subtitled, “A Story About Finding Quiet in a Busy World”. There was something captivating and refreshing about this seemingly ‘simple’ book. I put that word in semi-quotes because we all know that ‘simple’ does not mean ‘easy’, and is never really ‘simple’ …

Most Marshmallows, by Rowboat Watkins

Charming and unexpected, Most Marshmallows, by Rowboat Watkins, is a sweetly delicious delight. Its superpower is its brilliantly executed absurdity. “Most marshmallows don’t grow on trees, or come from storks, or even Mars.” The story continues to list things that most marshmallows really do do, which are ordinary tasks and …