Awesome Picture Books!

Posted on May 19, 2022 at 6:30 am by Gene Ambaum

Zoobilations! Animal Poems and Paintings by Douglas Florian. Beach Lane Books, 2022. 9781534465909.

I truly love this short book of poems, each of which is not more than a page long. Opposite them are Florian’s paintings (which I would have bet were drawings). Brilliant rhymes! And there’s even a poem about a mole rat.

Some Questions About Trees by Toni Yuli. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2022. 9781534489158.

A series of questions about trees from artist Toni Yuli, who combines textures and media and who is even doing a bit of what I’d consider cartooning. A short, compelling book that will inspire kids to ponder.

The Day I Became A bird by Ingrid Chabbert and Guridi. Kids Can Press, 2016. 9781771386210.

A boy falls in love with a girl named Sylvia who loves wild birds. So he builds himself a bird costume and wears it to school one day.

This is a perfect love story and it has some of my favorite drawings. It’s simply beautiful.

Ways To Make Friends by Jairo Buitrago (Author) and Mariana Ruiz Johnson (Illustrator). Translated by Elisa Amado. Greystone Kids, 2022. 9781771649759.

I don’t often review forthcoming picture books, but I love Ruiz Johnson’s cute illustrations so much that I can’t pass up the chance to mention this. It’s full of advice on how to make friends (most of it good) that a little frog follows, and that you could follow too, as well as advice on how to be your own best friend. Plus there’s a cactus.