If you're looking for a hilarious read aloud that also plucks the heart strings, one filled with vibrant and playful illustrations, and one that simultaneously does and doesn't take itself seriously— This is your book. If you're looking to be seen as the favorite auntie or uncle by the under age10 set, gift this book … Continue reading Blurp’s Book of Manners – Perfect Picture Book Friday
As the threat of climate change becomes more and more scary, it's necessary to focus on the helpers, those who are doing their part to help the planet recover from human mistakes. One such mistake was the damming of the Elwha River on the Olympic Penisula in the Pacific Northwest. Mountain Snow melts. Plip...plop...plip. The … Continue reading A River’s Gifts – Perfect Picture Book Friday
When I was in college, I lived in the second floor apartment of an old wooden house at the edge of the University of Arizona campus in Tucson. Cockroaches were ubiquitous. As I spent a lot of time chasing them into the cracks of the woodwork, it wasn't surprising that I developed asthma. When our … Continue reading Your Birthday Was the Best! – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Enchanted Lion has done it again, found an amazing book from the international picture book world, and published it in English translation. Notably, this book was selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Best Illustrated Children's Books for 2022, but the narrative is wonderful, too! Parents everywhere will see their own … Continue reading Bedtime for Bo – Perfect Picture Book Friday
I missed seeing this book in 2021, so I'm here to give it some love right now. The end papers show the "before time." Illustration ©Harry Woodgate And then the first spread returns us to the present. Text/Illustration ©Harry Woodgate A child visits a grandparent who's lost his spouse. The child and grandparent play and … Continue reading Grandad’s Camper – Perfect Picture Book Friday
Looking for a picture book with a "classic" feel, one that exists in the realm of folklore meets magical realism? Here's a fabulous option hot off the presses. Text ©Philip C. Stead. Illustration ©Erin E. Stead Three farm animals gaze out the barn door into the moonlit night. Wondering. Waiting for the sun to rise. … Continue reading The Sun is Late and So is the Farmer – Perfect Picture Book Friday
In this beautiful book, three authors (from three different tribes) come together to shift the Thanksgiving narrative, honoring indigenous perspectives. A Wampanoag woman tells her grandchildren a story about how the harvest feast of 1621 came to pass, and it lays bare the truth: without the help of the Wampanoag people, the Pilgrims may have … Continue reading Keepunumuk: Weeâchumun’s Thanksgiving Story – Perfect Picture Book Friday
There's a book I kept checking out from the library that I finally decided needed a permanent place on my shelf. A boy named Nigel has dreams he only tells the moon, because the moon won't spill his secrets. The moon is a safe confidant. Text ©Antwan Eady Illustration ©Gracey Zhang "Hi. My name's Nigel. … Continue reading Nigel and the Moon – Perfect Picture Book Friday
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
Jilanne Hoffmann 