I don't think I've ever reviewed a wordless picture book for PPBF, so this is a first! The front end paper shows a solitary stick lying in sand. Then, in a spread before the title page, a shadow falls over the stick. What could it be? Page turn. A funny-shaped creature (the one making the … Continue reading The Line in the Sand – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Hello everyone! Interrupting your regularly scheduled Monday for a perfect picture book that's fitting for Halloween day! The author, Donna Washington, is a professional storyteller, and her skills shine in this narrative. There were always Scares in Toadsuck Swamp, but Curly Locks didn't pay 'em much mind. The Scares kept to themselves. They only woke … Continue reading Boo Stew – Belated Perfect Picture Book Friday
A pause for Perfect Picture Book Friday while I take this week to feature Susanna Hill's Halloweensie Contest! There's still time to enter. It's all good fun! THE CONTEST: write a 100 word Halloween story appropriate for children (children here defined as 12 and under) (title not included in word count) using the words slither, treat, and scare. Your … Continue reading A (little) STEM Halloween – A Halloweensie Contest Entry
Hello everyone! I'm so excited to reveal the cover of my debut picture book, A River of Dust: The Life-Giving Link Between North Africa and the Amazon on VIvian Kirkfield's blog!!! In the flat screen image, you won't be able to see the foil that illuminates the dust. You'll have to hold it in your … Continue reading A River of Dust – Cover Reveal
If, after viewing this cover, you're not already half in love with this book and its topic, capybaras, then there may be no hope for your soul. Text ©Mike Allegra Illustration ©Jaimie Whitbread The rainforest was alive with squeaks, squawks, grunts, growls, hisses, harrumphs, and frenetic feather-and-fur-flying fury. It was quite the rumpus. No one … Continue reading Sleepy Happy Capy Cuddles – Perfect Picture Book Friday
I'm all for personification in picture books, be they lyrical or humorous, and especially when they involve a mix of STEM and social and emotional learning (SEL) topics, like this one. Acorn was a wild little thing, pointy on one end and capped on the other. Text ©Jen Arena. Illustration ©Jessica Gibson He was the … Continue reading Acorn Was a Little Wild – Perfect Picture Book Friday
I usually try to review the latest and greatest or upcoming picture books here, but someone told me about this book awhile back, and, well, it's published by Neal Porter/Holiday House, and that usually means the reader is in for a treat. I missed this one when it came out in 2019, so I'm rectifying … Continue reading Hum and Swish – Perfect Picture Book Friday
As a country kid at heart, I identify with city-living Frances and her itch to DO THINGS! The problem is Text ©Liz Garton Scanlon. Illustration ©Sean Qualls City walls aren't for climbing and city cats aren't for catching. (Don't you just love that alliteration and assonance?) Text ©Liz Garton Scanlon. Illustration ©Sean Qualls City rooms … Continue reading Frances in the Country – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Mirelle Ortega, one of our featured authors at Kidquake this year, is also an illustrator whose debut picture book mirrors its title. It's magic! Let me tell you about the place I'm from, a faraway land brimming with magia. Powerful magic that twists and turns and touches everything around you. Text/Illustration ©Mirelle Ortega With those … Continue reading Magic: Once Upon a Faraway Land – Perfect Picture Book Friday
What can I say about a book that is so lyrical, so beautifully (and classically) illustrated, and holds up to read after read after read that there is nothing left to say? Well, I do have more to say: This is a story about Ruth Krauss, a child who always finds a way to be … Continue reading A Story Is to Share – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Jilanne Hoffmann 