I love sharing books with you that combine wonderful artwork with memorable words. Up High by Matt Hunt is about a little boy going for a walk with his Dad. The world looks and feels scary to the small child until his father puts him up on his shoulders. This …
“Ahhhhhhh… yessssss,” I said out loud as I gazed at Freya Blackwoods’ hypnotically captivating cover for her stunning new picture book, The Boy and the Elephant. And one of the best surprises— after going in with those incredibly high exceptions, is that this wondrous book never let me down— not …
I’m a big fan of Gianna Marino’s books. I especially enjoyed NIGHT ANIMALS and posted about it on Picturebook Builders. And now, here I am again singing the praises of Gianna’s clever story telling and glorious illustrations in her latest book, THE OUTSIDE. THE OUTSIDE features a funny cast of …
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 …
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 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 …
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 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 …
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 …
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 …