Story Rug is a new picture book written by Sophie Blackall and illustrated by Phoebe Wahl.
I learned about it, and the collaboration between these two, at Western Washington University’s 2026 Children’s Literature Conference, where both presented. Each is a powerful writer and illustrator individually, so I was intrigued to see what a collaboration between them would be like.
Village Books, an independent bookstore here in Bellingham, Washington (that also sponsors the conference mentioned just above), regularly hosts readings, and, on Tuesday, July 14, hosted a reading by Phoebe Wahl.
Actually, it was more of an event than a reading. Though tickets were free, they were required, and the event sold out. Parents, grandparents, and a pack of kids arrived early. Some of the kids were sort of vaguely pleased to be at an outing, but a significant number were actively excited. The little girl who sat in front of me was hugging her books and rocking in her seat. At one point, before things got started, she burst out, “I’m so excited. I love her books so much.” One teenager I know was hugging Phoebe’s YA book Phoebe’s Diary with just as much enthusiasm. Phoebe is from Bellingham, and there was a definite sense of kids meeting a local celebrity, even a hero.
Village Books has several floors, and uses a space in the basement for readings, but this was a bit different from past readings I’ve attended, because kids were sitting down in front, continually moving up and down the aisle, and, at times, crawling around. They formed into clots and clumps: at one point, four or five little blond girls spontaneously formed a wandering caterpillar. (I think two were sisters, but the others…?)
Sylvia Nahas Tag, a librarian at WWU with a nice presence, filled a role that was one part MC, one part interviewer/prompter, and one part ringleader. She announced Phoebe and helped select questions from the kids–which were sometimes questions and sometimes pronouncements like one boy’s statement “I’m going at drawing mountains in the background.” She also orchestrated the ripping and weaving that happened after the reading.
The reading itself was highly interactive. Story Rug has some good sounds and good repetition, and Phoebe invited kids to chant lines like “Rip Rip Rip” with her. Images of the book’s pages were projected on a screen overhead, so more people could get a good look at the images.
The reading was over far too quickly. A question and answer session followed, and then, since the book was about a school class that makes a rag rug from scratch, so did a braiding session. Tables were set up along one side of the room, and fabric was provided to rip and weave, making this the most literally hands on reading I’ve ever been to.
Adults and kids alike queued up to get their book signed. Some just had the new book, but many had copies of Phoebe’s other books.
There was jumping and crawling over chairs, and a good time was had by all.
