I recently discussed Look at my Book, a picture book about writing picture books. It was surprisingly good, and made me curious how strong other […]
Afterward, Everything Was Different
This 2023 picture book is ambitious and intriguing, but not fully successful. The ambition comes from two sources. First, author Jairo Buitrago and illustrator Rafael […]
Monster Hands
The 2024 picture book Monster Hands is an interesting book. Written by Karen Kane and Jonaz McMillan and illustrated by Dion MBD, Monster Hands combines […]
Two Together
I enjoyed Brendan Wenzel’s They All Saw a Cat–both the visuals and the ideas. Yesterday I read Wenzel’s 2024 picture book Two Together. I once […]
Windrush Child
John Agard recently won the CLiPPA (Centre for Literary in Primary Education Poetry Award), which is, as I noted in my review of When Creature […]
Fourteen Ways of Looking at Jellyfish
There’s a classic poem by Wallace Stevens titled “Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird.” It is an austere, imagist poem, and highly influential in […]
Puffins!
Puffins! is a new (2026) nonfiction picture book. Written by Maria Gianferrari and illustrated by Maris Wicks, it is both fun and informative. In fact, […]
Lazlo Learns Recorder
Lazlo Learns Recorder is a 2019 picture book written by Vicky Weber and illustrated by Masha Klot. It has a good structure for a story […]
The Paper Boat
The Paper Boat: A Refugee Story is another picture book by Thao Lam, this one from 2020. A few days ago I reviewed The Line […]
When Creature Met Creature
I picked up the 2024 picture book When Creature Met Creature because the author (John Agard) recently won the CLiPPA (Centre for Literary in Primary […]