Since I'm behind in reviews, I will do a few posts by age or subject. First up - picture books!
When I opened this and saw the photograph of a deliveryman I thought, no way! I enjoyed the story with the obvious twist, and the style of the illustrations added to the frenetic energy of the story.
The first time I read this all I could focus on was that bag of library books. When are they going to the library? Are they going now? The suspense!
Spoiler alert. They don't ever take their books back to the library, but the bag of library books is just one of many beautiful illustrations.
Most readers are going to know exactly where this story is going, but even when it happens the way you hope it happens, there are still the details about how it happens. And those details are everything.
Everything is exceptional - the story, endpapers, author's bio, pages explaining words and food. And illustrations that evoke such strong emotions and demonstrate that words aren't the only bridges we can use to connect with others.
Things I love:
* How the dictionary text is manipulated and so flexible. The story is coming to life from the dictionary, and that's exactly how it's illustrated. Also, the characters singing the ABCs to put the dictionary back in order makes me feel like everything is going to be ok. Wouldn't that be amazing - to simply sing a song to put things right?
* The font. Is there a better font than Oliver Jeffers' handwriting? Those lowercase G's!
* The idea is really brilliant. And a great prompt for young writers. What words would you choose to write an alphabetical story?
* I'm still pondering the puddle moment. Does the ending really mean the ghost has a nightly rendezvous with the feelings of others? Clouds? Or that the ghost has befriended the very essence of feelings?
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