Picture Book Round-Up #15

Another picture book round up today, lots of Spring 2023 releases, including an array of books that I don’t really think are for kids, some beautiful illustrations, and some great depictions of nature.

To Make by Danielle Davis and Mags DeRoma

This gorgeously illustrated, but a little kitschy, picture book is absolutely more of an “idea” book than a story book. It follows characters who want to “make” something through the process—but each time, the. process is “gather, make, wait”. Making a cake, a friend, a poem, a song, a garden, etc. Its not WRONG of course…but it’s not that engaging. If reading with an actual child, I’d ask them to use more words to describe what they see happening on the page and how they do that activity, etc.

The Fastest Tortoise in Town by Howard Calvert, illustrated by Karen Obuhanych

A funny, light-hearted story of a tortoise, named Barbara Hendricks, who enters a race against other animals, and after consistent training and with the support of her owner and best friend, wins. It’s a little more prose-y than you might expect for the story, but adorable and very kid-friendly with a little treat for the adult readers at the end.

Cloud Babies: Sometimes All We Need to Do is Look Up by Eoin Colfer, illustrated by Chris Judge

This is a sweet story, part illustration part photo-realism, about a young girl, Erin, who has to spend a lot of time in the hospital due to an unnamed illness. She and her family stay hopeful and distract themselves by looking for ‘cloud babies” or finding animals and other fun things in the clouds–dragons, polar bears, foxes, etc. But as Erin grows older and spends less time at the hospital, she tries to “outgrow” her cloud babies, but the more important thing is for her classmates to understand them. This is a sweet tale, a little long though.

A is for Ambitious by Meena Harris, illustrated by Marissa Valdez

This is a feminist sort of alphabet book that is all about female empowerment, not letting people silence you for being “bossy” etc and it’s cute and fun except for a few of the letters that maybe aren’t as er…inherently positive. For example, J.

“J is for Judgy. My beliefs are informed–I don’t share them without studying.” What? This makes…no sense? Is she saying it’s okay to be “judgy” if you thought about your judgements? It’s couple with an illustration of a girl standing on the J speaking into a microphone and a circle behind it that says “Save our planet.” I understand the sentiment in the sentence, but I don’t think “judgy” is the best word to use here without more context.

The City Tree by Shira Boss, illustrated by Lorena Alvarez

What a sweet book! It’s got gorgeous illustrations that bring to life this story of a “Street tree” or a tree planted in front of a city building and the magic it brings to the girl who lives in the building and the community. It’s a fun book about the importance of nature in urban environments told through a kids’ eye and with their priorities in mind, and diverse and multicultural as well.

The Tree and the River by Aaron Becker

This wordless picture book is just full of gorgeous landscapes–following a tree next to a river through centuries–from what reminded me of the Middle Ages through the industrial revolution, through a drought, and to dropping acorns and growing and thriving again. Not a lot here for kids, but it’s pretty!