Picture Books!

Posted on February 8, 2024 at 6:54 am by Gene Ambaum

One Giant Leap by Thao Lam. Owlkids, 2024. 9781771475990.

A space adventure inspired by that feeling you might remember from when you were a kid when you were so dressed up for winter you felt like an astronaut. Lam’s paper illustrations always astound me, and this book reminded me of long-forgotten snowstorms.

Slug in Love by Rachel Bright, illustrated by Nadia Shireen. Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2021. 9781665900461.

Doug is a friendly slug who needs a hug, but no one is interested. Then he meets a snail named Gail. (Spoiler: things don’t work out, then they do.) I’ve had a bad week, and this was exactly what I needed to read this morning.

You Broke It! by Liana Finck. Rise x Penguin Workshop, 2024. 9780593660409.

This is a fun collection of what are essentially one-panel comics featuring problematic parents yelling at their kids. From her bio at the back of the dust jacket: “[Finck] is thrilled by the opportunity to use her adult privilege to validate children everywhere in this, her first children’s book!” Buy it for the adult in your life who needs a quick laugh at themselves and for the kids who know they’re right at least some of the time.