This beautiful book had me smiling the whole way through with surprise after surprise. Of course a book about the man who loved books and children enough to change the publishing world forever would appeal to me from the get go. But this one went above and beyond with both …
Things To Do by Elaine Magliaro illustrated by Catia Chien. Open to absolutely beautiful, wallpaper-like end pages of a little girl and her dog in a pattern of flora. They are done in a soft Delft blue palette and instantly make me think, ‘old world’. Really, such a lovely introduction to …
Everywhere, Wonder written by Matthew Swanson and illustrated by Robbi Behr surprised me in a wonderful way. The story begins by addressing the reader, “I have a story to share. It is a little gift from me to you.” We set off on our imaginative journey. At first we are …
It’s raining, it’s pouring in Sam Usher’s glorious new picture book appropriately titled “Rain”. I had it in the back of my mind for a while to post about it just because I’m dying to scream out to all of you, “HOW DOES SOMEONE PAINT WATER LIKE THAT?????”, but I …
Blue Ethel took almost ten years to become a book. Someone asked me if that’s because I put it away for a while to work on other things? No, not really. Ethel was just a little pokey in her journey to find the right ‘owner’. She finally found her person …
To be read as though you have the worst cold ever: Bob, Not Bob! written by Liz Garton Scanlon & Audrey Vernick is illustrated by one of my favorite illustrators, Matthew Cordell. The premise is that poor Little Louie has the worst cold ever. “Today, Little Louie’s nose was clogged. …
Niko Draws a Feeling, written by Bob Raczka and beautifully illustrated by Simone Shin. How much of why I love this book is because I’m an artist? Because as an artist I have felt dear Niko’s frustration watching blank faces staring at my masterpieces? Well… perhaps a lot of it. But Niko …
When in doubt, ask a librarian. I was chatting with my librarian friend, Sara, and asking about book shapes. I’m at that beginning stage with my next picture book and I wanted her thoughts on how different shapes work on the shelf. Sara mentioned that small books often get pushed …
Why do we fall in love with one book and not another? It’s not all because “it’s well written”, or has “stunning illustrations”, or is “a brilliant new idea”. Sometimes it has to do with where we are in our lives. Like a song that expresses the perfect mood that you’re …
Reverse poem. Poem reverse. Owl Sees Owl, a beautiful picture book written by Laura Godwin and illustrated by Rob Dunlavey. I’d like to just give a little shout out and applause that the cover reads, “Laura Godwin & Rob Dunlavey”. Because this is a picture book perfection where the illustrations move …