Picture Books Adults Will Love, Too

Posted on August 8, 2024 at 6:04 am by Gene Ambaum

The Heart Never Forgets written by Ana Ot, illustrated by Hayden Goodman. Atheneum Books For Young Readers, 2024. 978-1665913058

Every page of this book is visually stunning, including the endpapers. The story is about townspeople gathering for a masquerade as the narrator remembers her beloved grandfather. My favorite thing about this book is the costumes and how Goodman’s illustrations capture their dancing. It’s a beautiful book about loss.

The Rock in My Throat by Kao Kalia Yang, illustrated by Jiemei Lin. Carolrhoda Books, 2024. 9781728445687.

This picture book is heartbreaking. Yang’s family’s first language was Hmong. They moved to the US as refugees from Thailand when she was young. This is forty-three-year-old Yang’s answer to why she became selectively mute in early grade school, and “wouldn’t speak in English voluntarily until…college.” (There’s a more detailed explanation in the author’s note at the end.) Lin’s illustrations are amazing at capturing and conveying everything from Yang’s withdrawal to the disrespect she and her parents suffered.

Creepy by Lee Sensenbrenner & Keiler Roberts. Drawn & Quarterly, 2022. 9781770466197.

Roberts’ autobiographical family comics always make me laugh. In this story she draws herself as a creepy lady who only eats one thing (also creepy). It’s a fable warning kids not to pay too much attention to screens while ignoring the world around them.