passionately sharing, discussing and admiring children's picture books
Excited to share a lovely book from 2021 that celebrates the relationship humans and animals have to each other. A book about movement, a book about playing, a book sharing connection, and a very special book that includes some Cree words too. Check out We All Play by Julie Flett, 2021.
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One of our family favorite books from last year, Rectangle Time makes us laugh with every read. A story about a cat trying to make sense of a child learning to read, this book will send you into giggles. Take a peek at Rectangle Time by Pamela Paul, pictures by Becky Cameron, 2021.
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Coming this week with a Wednesday post which seemed the perfect time to resurrect a favorite theme: Wordless Wednesday! If you’re new here, don’t be confused or perhaps get your hopes up – it’s not a wordless post from me. Ha! No, in these posts I celebrate a mysterious genre of picture books: the wordless book. Once a painful headache for me, now I search and celebrate the beautiful ones I can find. If wordless books tend to make you grimace – start with this post with tips for how to read them. And then join me today in drooling over this simple, yet beautiful story about a child and grandparent looking for tenants for their dreadfully neglected rental apartment and finding community in surprising ways. Here is Over the Shop by JonArno Lawson, illustrations by Qin Leng, 2021.
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Sometimes days just don’t go as we want them to. It’s a hard thing for grown-ups and kids alike to respond well to having to be flexible or creative with our plans. Enter this book, because there is a book for everything, and this new one is fantastically fun! Sunny-Side Up by Jacky Davis, illustrated by Fiona Woodcock, 2021, is a simple and beautiful story about plans, emotions, creativity, and turning a gloomy day sunny-side up. Have a look.
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I have a new favorite book. A bold statement to make, but it is in fact, a new favorite. It speaks to the moment currently at hand, this horrid year and more that we as a collective humanity are dealing with and learning from the pandemic. But it will also serve as a reminder and a memory and a memento when this situation is over. This book encapsulates so much of the arc of what we are experiencing and what we all hope to see on the other side incredibly soon. I also hope that it becomes a classic of some sort, a reminder for every generation after this of something that was so big and so awful and so hard that only some of us made it through and are forever changed as a result. This is a stunning book, a this-very-moment book, and a hope-filled book. Please go get this book, for yourself and for everyone you love. We all need it, now and after. Take a look at Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham, 2021.
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“Some people have eyes like sapphire lagoons
with lashes like lace trim on ballgowns,
sweeping their cheeks as they twirl.
Big eyes, long lashes.
Not me.”
And with that beautifully poetic opening, one of the most powerful, self-affirming books I’ve ever seen draws you into the world of one little girl as she describes her own eyes and the heritage that she is connected to with them. Be delighted by Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Dung Ho, 2021.
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Three Books a Night 