It’s just words and pictures. What could be so magical about it? And yet a book is somehow much more than the sum of its parts. Reading books, writing books and sharing books are some of the great joys of life, and these books about books offer a double helping of happiness.
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“I Am Book” by Joren Cull. (Ages 5-8. Penguin Workshop. $18.99.)
When Book lands on the shelf at a different school library, he’s not sure what makes him special — or, in fact, what makes anything at all. He’s just a book “with, um words? … and, err, pages? … and a yellow cover? I’m still finding where I fit, inside my brand-new home.”
And to his horror, he’s not the most popular book. In fact, someone calls him “so cringe” and someone else rips out a page.
Can he make himself over into a dictionary (with a lot of misspelled words) or a horror book (that’s too scary)? Or is the answer to realize that not everyone enjoys the same things — and that’s OK.
“Not everyone will like me, no matter what they see,” Book realizes, but he will find his place “as long as I’m still being the best book I can be.”
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“The Dictionary Story” by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. (Ages 3-7. Candlewick Press. $18.99.)
Most books know what they’re about, but the dictionary “was never quite sure of herself.” After all, she had all the words in the world, but she didn’t tell a story — at least not until she decided to “bring her words to life.”
And before she knows it, a hungry alligator has sprung from the “A” section to chase a doughnut rolling away through the book, only to startle a ghost and encounter the moon — and soon the dictionary can hardly keep up with the story she has set in motion. Each new turn of the story is drawn on dictionary pages that become increasingly jumbled, all the way to the tornado, umbrella, Viking, walrus and zebra at the end, when the dictionary laments, “It was chaos!”
Fortunately, she eventually is able to put things back in (alphabetical) order — and this stunning work of art in book form invites readers to return again and again to enjoy its humor and beauty.
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“My Book and Me” by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Chris Raschka. (Ages 3-6. Red Comet Press. $18.99.)
This rollicking tribute to a favorite book captures the pleasure of not just reading a book but of carrying it everywhere, memorizing it, losing it and finding it again. “There’s jam on the cover from yesterday’s toast and crayon inside from when I was little,” but it’s still perfect.
Chris Raschka’s ebullient illustrations show different children, each with a different book — their perfect book, the love of their (reading) life, that makes them say, “I know every word. They’re right here inside me.”
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“How to Make a Picture Book” by Elys Dolan. (Ages 6-9. Candlewick Press. $17.99. Due Tuesday.)
First things first: Elys Dolan is not a worm. But in her funny, idea-packed book for young authors, she’s “appearing as one because it’s quicker to draw than a person. You see, time is of the essence. We need stories and we need them now!”
With her handy assistant Bert (a blue bug), Elys the worm/ writer/ illustrator takes readers on a whirlwind tour: her “Gallery of Muses,” where she talks about story ideas, her “story math” approach to putting together winning story combinations, discussions of characters and settings — and stacks of suggested activities. There’s even a guide to stapling together a homemade book, so aspiring authors can “grab your pens and pencils and let’s get making!”
Caroline Luzzatto has taught preschool and fourth grade. Reach her at luzzatto.bookworms@gmail.com
