Picture Book Reviews!

Posted on June 27, 2023 at 6:30 am by Gene Ambaum

I’m A Great Friend! by Lauren Stohler. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2023. 9781665918336.

Capybaras all lounge around the pond calmly, offering protection to their bird friends on their backs. Baby Capybara wants some bird friends, too, but his energy and activities drive them away. After he attracts a few, there are a few funny pages where the birds try (and fail) to hang on for the ride. I love the energy of Stohler’s illustrations, and how she ends the story.

A Child Of Books by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. Candlewick, 2016. 9780763690779.

Every page of this book is mesmerizing, with its hand-drawn font, its photographic collage elements, and the way words are part of the illustrations. It’s about a child from a world of stories inviting another kid (and everyone) along on adventures. It’s a perfect gift from experienced readers to new readers.

Fish by Liam Francis Walsh. Roaring Brook Press, 2016. 9781626723337.

A boy and his dog fish for the letter F I S and H in this nearly wordless adventure that uses a few elements of comics to incredible effect. And the drawings themselves are perfect, as are the colors.

The Sword In The Stove by Frank W. Dormer. Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2016. 9781481431675.

Two chefs look for their friend Harold. One assumes he went potty. But then they find his sword in the stove. How did get there? (Spoiler: they’re not very happy with the answer when they finally get it.) Dormer’s primitive-looking drawings work with the silly humor and word balloons to create a ridiculous atmosphere that makes the ending not at all as scary as it might have otherwise been.