Favorite October Reads Part 1

October was another month filled with lots of good books.  It's starting to get chilly here so I've been spending a little more time buried under blankets and books.  Reading is one of my favorite parts of hibernating.

This will be a double post.  Going forward, I'm going to post these reviews as I write them.  Hopefully this will help each book stand out more.

Bear is a Bear by Jonathan Stutzman and illustrated by Dan Santat (whose work I adore) (Picture Book)

This book will stomp all over your heart and make you cry but in a good way, I promise! The story reminds me a little of Calvin and Hobbes, The Giving Tree, and Love You Forever, but it's definitely a one-of-a-kind book about the evolution of friendship between a beloved stuffed bear and his girl as she grows up, goes to college, and has a child of her own. There is so much to look for in the illustrations, which are magnificent. I had to take a moment when I reached the page where Bear climbs into the chest. That page really got to me. Grown-ups are going to love this. Kids will have fun looking at the illustrations, but I imagine a lot of them will be offering their grown-ups a tissue.

Lost Things by Carey Sookocheff (Picture Book)

How can a book with simple lines and illustrations be so complex? My theory is that by keeping the text and illustrations so simple, the multiple stories, which are all connected to each other and cyclical to boot, really have a chance to go deeper and tangle with each other while making perfect sense. I enjoyed following the lost objects as they found new homes. I thought the different speculations about what lost items mean to their new homes and people were surprisingly profound. There’s a little bit of “Que Será, Será” to this book, a call to embrace and accept our losses and use our imaginations to think up new homes for lost things.

This Small Blue Dot by Zeno Sworder (Picture Book)

When a little girl welcomes a new sibling to the world, she explains everything she’s “worked out so far.” It’s an imaginative, winding journey through her speculations, favorite things, advice she’s heard from grown-ups, things that make her special, and what she wants to share with her new sibling. The illustrations are unusual and wonderful. The little girl and her new sibling are drawn lifelike in pencil. Everything else is in crayon, wildly colorful, and a little abstract.

Dragon Night by J.R. Krause

Georgie is afraid of the night and Dragon is afraid of the knight in the story he lives in. After Georgie and Dragon figure out they are talking about two totally different things, they begin to help each other with their fears. I don’t want to give too much away, but their solutions for the scary night/knight are considerate, thoughtful, and ingenious. I also thought the illustrations were magnificent. The dragon’s face is so expressive. I felt such a wonderful connection with the dragon and have been enjoying ruminating the possibility of characters strolling in and out of their stories.