Tag Archives: sarah wilkins illustrator

picture books about books (or poems)

 

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I love a book about a book or story or language or reading, don’t you? It’s like a cupcake with extra frosting for bibliophiles. It affirms the things we like while indulging in them.

These two are a perfect pair for that.

 

A Book Is a Book by Jenny Bornholdt, illustrated by Sarah Wilkins (2013).

I love this one so much. I just reread it and laughed aloud alone in my apartment several times.

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Click image(s) to enlarge

“A book is to read” the first spread tells us. Yup and yes. But a book is more than that too in this whimsical take on the written word and story that’s clearly had input from the real things kids say.

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Some favorites:

“Reading a book of pictures is still reading.” Word.

“Reading books in bed is great, but not really heavy ones.” True.

 

“It is impossible to read in the shower.”

“How a book smells depends on what it’s been through.”

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This book will charm the pages off you, book lovers!

And we must see more of Sarah Wilkins’s wonderful artwork! We must!

 

Thanks to Myrick Marketing for images!

 

 

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This Is a Poem That Heals Fish by Jean-Pierre Siméon and Olivier Tallec (2007).

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This book is mind-bending and I mean that as the highest praise. (Get ready for animals and objects who talk like it’s old hat.)

Here’s how it goes. A boy named Arthur has a fish named Leon who looks like he’s sick and going to die. Arthur’s mother’s solution is to give the fish a poem to revive it. Of course! A poem!

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“But what is a poem?”

That’s what Arthur wants to know. And that’s what this book is about. It’s a story about poetry and it’s poetry itself.

 

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When household appliances can’t answer Arthur’s question, he asks other people. They give the most baffling, beautiful answers. They speak of what poetry is to them.

 

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“A poem, Arthur, is when you are in love and have the sky in your mouth.”

“A poem is when you hear the heartbeat of a stone.”

Aren’t those descriptions just gorgeous? And resonant?

And Tallec‘s illustrations so expressive.

 

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Our main character Arthur is perplexed by the stuff people say about a poem. But he listens. He collects that stuff.

He tells that stuff to Leon.

And that stuff is a poem. A poem that heals his fish.

Poetry is pretty powerful stuff.

 

Thanks to Enchanted Lion Books for images!

 

 

MORE PICTURE BOOKS ABOUT BOOKS:

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The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers (2007).

booksalwayseverywhereBooks Always Everywhere by Jane Blatt, illustrated by Sarah Massini (2013).

mypetbook

My Pet Book by Bob Staake (2014).

 

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It’s a Book by Lane Smith (2010).

and

 

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I Am the Book by Lee Bennett Hopkins, illustrated by Yayo (2011).

I Like Books by Anthony Browne (1988).

The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce (2011).

 

 

Got more books about books or reading or poetry? Lemme know!

 

 

 I received a review copy of A Book is A Book from Gecko Press; opinions are my own.