Hi friends! It's been a while. The school year is taking its toll on me, but I am bursting with so many fun things I want to talk about! I'm hoping that if I focus on sharing them in bite-size chunks, maybe it will seem manageable - but we will see. Until June, I'm not making any promises (:
Anyway, today I just wanted to share the most delightful new book I found called What Would You Do in a Book About You?
I know many of us are trying to move away from Dr. Seuss in our picture-book libraries, but it can be hard to let go of favorites, especially if they have a purpose in our lives. I know a lot of us have given Oh, the Places You'll Go! as a gift for various types of graduations, and with good reason. It has an inspiring message (and who doesn't love reading in rhyme?!), the colors are so fun and enthusiastic, and it just feels like a whimsical way to celebrate an important milestone. However, it can't be uncoupled from Dr. Suess's problematic history of racist speech and images, and I know that for me, that is a dealbreaker.
So what to give instead? What Would You Do in a Book About You genuinely satisfies everything that makes Oh, the Places You'll Go! such a favorite, but it also provides a wide range of representation. Listen, you know that I am a picture-book snob, but Joey Chou is hands-down one of my very favorites, and he did a beautiful job bringing Jean Reidy's words to life here. It has the flavor of Disney, since he has done so much work for them (including an insanely gorgeous edition of It's a Small World), which adds an element of magic and whimsey. I'm going to order a bunch to gift to our favorite teachers, and to have on for birthdays, graduations, etc, and I hope you do too!
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