Picture Book Round-Up #19

A new picture book round-up, mostly focused on a few interesting stories by some well-known names, and my attempt to catch up on some 2023 picture books!

Moving the Millers’ Minnie Moore Mine Mansion by Dave Eggers, illustrated by Julia Sardia

A humorous, “so ridiculous it couldn’t be anything but true story” from Dave Eggers, this longer picture book (and larger trim size) takes us to Idaho for a history fable, where a man and his mine becomes a man and his wife and his family and his mansion, and then when the laws meant his widow couldn’t raise pigs in town, she put their 3 story mansion on logs and rolled it to a better location. It’s the kind of larger than life story that will pique kids interests, but is told in that kind of fablistic prose style that makes it well-suited for read-alouds, but not story times.

Something, Someday by Amanda Gorman, illustrated by Christian Robinson

What a team for this picture book! I didn’t see any press on it, and it’s a quieter book sure, but under the semblance of a boy wanting to plant a garden to make his urban community brighter and happier is a story about the need for home, and working together for the greater good. Gorman’s verse works beautifully with Robinson’s people-based illustrations and scene setting. I really did enjoy this one!

Our Roof is Blue by Sara A. Echenique, illustrated by Ashley Vargas

This is a really sweet book that goes to unexpected places. Set in Puerto Rico, we follow two siblings as a Hurricane hits their house–changing their roof from a solid, colored one to a blue tarp. As their roof is rebuilt over time, we see how their relationship with each other, their feeling of safety, and their relationship to the roof changes. It’s a really sweet book about resilience and making the most of a situation but also recognizing inequities and problems.

Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin and Kate Messner

Get very meta-textual with this new book by power-duo Grace Lin and Kate Messner. Accompanied by Lin’s signature illustrations, this book follows our protagonist through time and space via the books she reads, but she’s literally pulled into a book, and then into a next, and the next, before ending up back in the storybook of her own life. It’s cute! Not the most memorable thing in the world, but fun the first read through.