So, Did You...OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK?

Chronicle Books, 2013

In the last post I shared an interview with Jesse Klausmeier, author of the recent release OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK, illustrated by Suzy Lee. 

Center Spread

I hope by now you've had a chance to get your hands and eyes (and hearts) on this uniquely formatted book that nests progressively smaller books inside each other. The dense layering of detail, images, and meaning beg for frequent rereading and close observation. It's a  testament to the physical book, and to literacy.

It's also an invitation to explore, compare, consider, and celebrate the depths and joys of picture books in general, and this one in particular. For example, as each interior book reduces in size, its respective "reader" increases in size: ladybug, to frog, to rabbit, to bear, to giant, who holds the tiniest book of all.

Another pattern spans front end papers to back. The illustrations within transition from minimal color and detail to progressively richer and livelier content and co-mingled color as each book and "reader" interacts with the next.

What I particularly enjoyed was having the giant join the original/actual reader outside the physical limits of the book. From the title to the back cover, the reader becomes a player in the process and the playfulness of this innovative book.
In my mind I can picture the reader sitting in the giant's lap while they share this amazing experience.

I'm a huge fan of picture books of all types, targeted to any age. There are some select few, though, that provide a remarkable experience such as this. They stand before the reader as mirrors, reflecting the shared responsibility of the book and the reader to grasp the magic wand and say the magic words together.


First, if you haven't done so yet, find and OPEN THIS LITTLE BOOK. Then take a look at these other titles that share the mirror and magic of picture books.

Chronicle Books, 2011

PRESS HERE, by Herve` Tullet, is as interactive as they come, and utterly intriguing for readers of every age.

Roaring Book Press, 2010

Next, IT'S A BOOK, by Lane Smith, and its gentler boardbook version, IT'S A LITTLE BOOK.

Roaring Book Press, 2011

How hard can it be to understand "It's a Book"? If Gorilla gets it, and Mouse gets it, why can't Jackass? Maybe, when he unplugs for a moment, he will.

Hyperion, 2011

And, finally, YOU'RE FINALLY HERE, by Melanie Watt.
On Goodreads I said this:

This book blends the character strength and second person voice of Don't Let The Pigeon Ride the Bus with the ironic and slightly snarky approach of It's A Book. That's quite a high bar,  but this sassy little rabbit holds its own in such lofty company.


Are there other magic-making books you'd like to recommend?

What Makes A Book A Book?

A special March/April issue of The Horn Book is entitled hBook: Books Remixed in the Digital Age. Each article merits reading and lends clarity and insight to the ever-accelerating evolution of the publishing of books and related materials for young readers.

Katie Bircher manages The Horn Book's Out of the Box blog, where you can find reviews of apps and e-books. Her contribution to this issue is titled: What Makes a Good Picture Book App? Eight traits are identified, many of which aptly describe the best picture books in print form: easy to navigate, puts users in charge, withstands repeated use, and others. Of all eight criteria the one that strikes me as most essential to a powerful picture book is this: Provides a surprising and joyful experience.

In his 2004 Caldecott acceptance speech for THE MAN WHO WALKED BETWEEN THE TOWERS Mordicai Gerstein said,

"Books take us to places we will never go, and let us be people and creatures we can never be..."

Criteria for children's consumption, whether applied to books, Apps, or eBooks, should point their creators toward that level of excellence. Gerstein went on to say:

"My intention in all my books is to give children just what I want to give everyone: something beautiful, magical, funny, and soulful: something that provokes good questions: questions about what an incomprehensible, beautiful and seemingly impossible thing it is to be a human being in this incomprehensible, beautiful and seemingly impossible world. What could be more difficult and more wonderful?"

Gerstein consistently achieves that level of excellence, but particularly so in A BOOK. In it perspective shifts to "the fourth wall", with the reader's-eye-view fully conveyed through the angles and shadows of the illustrations. Every aspect of this unique investigation of what goes on in A Book challenges the reader to engage, reflect, and participate in the question- all the while entertaining the heck out of us! Perhaps our questions about the current emergence of formats, platforms, and delivery systems are framed most succinctly inside the front flap of A BOOK. Even before her journey begins the pigtailed character asks: What's My Story?

For an inside look, as well as raves and reviews, explore the Macmillan site. Better yet, read A BOOK.

The answer to this question seems clear to Rabbit, the hero/heroine of NOT A BOX, by Antoinette Portis. When is a box NOT A BOX? When the user has the engagement, creativity, curiosity, joy, and imagination to see other possibilities.

With all due respect to Mr. Shakespeare and his rose, a book is not an App is not an eBook. And yet, perhaps they are one and the same, in some essential way. When creators of any and all versions of these strive for excellence, when they provide surprising and joyful experiences, when they overcome the difficult to achieve the wonderful, surely they share a common value in the lives of young readers/users.

In case you are one of the few people who haven't yet read Lane Smith's picture book addressing this existential question, check out the trailer for IT'S A BOOK.

And please chime in with your thoughts and opinions about these emerging delivery systems for children's literature.