7 Picture Books I Loved (But Didn’t Review) in 2014
Anyone who writes book reviews will tell you that every once in a while you feel like you just nailed it. You do the book justice, you provide insightful critique – it’s all working. Other times, however, you spend so much time trying to nail it that your time runs out. Since I slavishly adhere to the “I only review books during their year of publication” rule, my time has run out on the following seven books.
If you haven’t already, take the time to read them with kids.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
A Letter for Leo by Sergio Ruzzier
Leo is a mail carrier who’s never received a letter himself, but when he befriends a little lost bird, things change.
Nancy Knows by Cybele Young
Elephants never forget, or so the saying goes. But Nancy is having trouble remembering something important.
Sebastian and the Balloon by Philip C. Stead
One of my favorite quotes of the year comes from Grasshopper Jungle: “Good books are about everything”. Philip Stead’s books tend to be about everything – including this one, about a boy who escapes boredom via balloon.
Hug Machine by Scott Campbell
What happens when the Hug Machine runs out of hugging power?
The Storm Whale by Benji Davies
Near the seaside home of a boy and his father, a little whale washes ashore. The lonely boy appreciates the company for a while, but knows what must be done.
Sparky! by Jenny Offill; illustrated by Chris Appelhans
A girl orders a sloth through the mail. What she’s expecting is a pet. What she gets is a sloth.
Fox’s Garden by Princess Camcam
A boy’s kindness is repaid by a mother fox in need of shelter. Another excellent entry into the Stories Without Words series from Enchanted Lion Books.
Filed under: Reviews
About Travis Jonker
Travis Jonker is an elementary school librarian in Michigan. He writes reviews (and the occasional article or two) for School Library Journal and is a member of the 2014 Caldecott committee. You can email Travis at scopenotes@gmail.com, or follow him on Twitter: @100scopenotes.
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SLJ Blog Network
Sydney Taylor Book Award Tour: A Talk with Sammy Savos About The Girl Who Sang
Red Flower | This Week’s Comics
Goodbye for now
When Book Bans are a Form of Discrimination, What is the Path to Justice?
Empowering Library Users with Passive Readers’ Advisory, a guest post by Monisha Blair
ADVERTISEMENT
Just had Sergio Ruzzier as a speaker for an event this past Monday – he was incredible and his A Letter For Leo is one of THE best of 2014!
Hmm, the comment didn’t post. I mainly wanted to say that I *love* that you did sketches of the book covers–really loved them–and that several of the titles (I think especially the hug one, which I’m judging from its cover, and the sloth one, which sounds like a cute idea) are ones I’d like to get for my niece.
Thanks! I had a good time drawing those
Wow… you draw as well? My envy knows no bounds….
Can’t wait til Tuesday to begin checking out the 20 books you and John write about.
Thanks for everything you do to promote a love of literacy
Kimbra
Thanks!