Favorite February Reads

February was a short month, but that doesn't mean I read any less. 😀This will be a double post.

Small Blue and the Deep Dark Night by Jon Davis (Picture Book)

 

 

This isn't your typical "scared of the dark" picture book. Small Blue, a bunny, keeps seeing terrifying things in the dark, such as goblins. Big Brown, a bear, encourages Small Blue to question what he's seeing. "How do you know it wasn't a delightful doggies' Saturday-night unicycle convention?" Big Brown's observations about what he sees in the dark are absurd, laugh-your-butt-off hilarious, and a ingenious way of showing how perspective can completely change a situation. Small Blue starts to think like Big Brown, and by the end of the book his perspective changes and he's thinking about the dark in a whole new way. The language is so descriptive it can easily conjure all the strange things lurking in the dark without any illustrations, but the whimsical illustrations also stand on their own. The snuggly picture of Small Blue and Big Brown at the end will make you feel all sorts of cozy and is beautiful enough to hang on a wall.

Teatime around the World by Denyse Waissbluth (Nonfiction Picture Book)

 

 

I learned so much from this short but fascinating exploration of a few tea rituals around the globe. Trying pink chai is my new mission in life. I was also fascinated by teh tarik or "pulled tea," which I looked up on YouTube, and highly recommend you do so as well. The wording and layout of the longer description of the ritual paired with the shorter, rhyming component of the book's overall message about the many ways tea can be enjoyed are a bit clunky together, but if read in two different passes, are just fine. The good news is you'll want to read this again and again and think about all the glorious tea in the world! The illustrations are also a delight - simple, bright, and soft - and will definitely have you reaching for the tea kettle.

Would They Love a Lion? by Kady MacDonald Denton (Picture Book)

 

 

This is an older book I just hadn't seen before. It's a great reminder that there is always treasure to be found in a library, even when you think you've read nearly everything and seen it all. It's about Anna, a girl who dreams she's a bird, but when she wakes up she is no longer a bird. Thankfully Anna's imagination doesn't give up on the dream. Thanks to a blanket (that's also the endpapers *be still my beating heart*), she becomes a bird and other animals as she goes about her day. The blanket is exchanged for a giant sweater from her mom's laundry basket at some point during this journey because Anna doesn't see it as a sweater. She sees it as a way to become a rabbit and then a lion. Anna eventually settles down for a nap (as a lion of course) surrounded by her family. Though the story is adorable and a great nod to the importance of play and imagination, my favorite thing about the book are the illustrations of each blanket/sweater animal. They are equal parts how Anna imagines herself to be and how her family sees her as she changes from animal to animal. I've tried but cannot wrap my mind around how the illustrator does this. The only way I can imagine her being able to execute this is by living it and becoming Anna's character. And the thought of a grown-up illustrator pretending to be different blanket/sweater animals brings me so much joy. It's possible she also has a child who did this, and that's also pretty adorable. No matter. Anna's story is all about the beauty of imagination and why we should always keep our minds open to its powers.

Just Read! by Loria Degman and illustrated by Victoria Tentler-Krylov (Picture Book)

If you need a book to stare at for hours on end, Just Read is a great choice. The illustrations bring to life that feeling you get when you completely disappear in a book and its world becomes your own. There is also so much movement in the illustrations. It feels a little bit like the characters were all moving around and going about their lives while the book was closed and the moment I opened the book they all froze. If you look even closer at the illustrations there are all these incredible details. For example, the grumpy lady sitting next to the mom and crying baby on the plane is reading a book called, "Best Meditation Techniques." Just Read feels like a magical book. I wouldn't be surprised if each reader who reads this ends up as part of the illustrations for future readers.