This Book of Mine

May 6, 2019
This short meditation by married cocreators Stewart and Small (The Gardener) opens as a young woman slips past a New York Public Library lion with a book clutched to her chest. “I take this book,” Stewart begins, “to be my friend” (the girl, now settled on a city fire escape, begins to read); “To chew on it while you read it” (a mother and baby share a book as the baby gnaws one corner); “To grab for it when I need it” (a young bed-goer searches under the nightstand with a flashlight). Within amethyst-washed spreads by Small, the book covers are picked out in contrasting colors—a gray-blue beach read, the yellow-tinged covers of a J.S. Bach composition. The makers catalogue more book joys before a ringing final phrase: “A treasure for a lifetime, this book friend of mine.” Small’s ink-and-wash spreads concentrate in particular on the readers’ faces; though they appear largely unrelated to one another, they emerge as genuine, ordinary people united by a love of reading. While the volume is unlikely to convert nonreaders, those who live and breathe books will understand the passion that Stewart and Small celebrate. Ages 3–6.

May 15, 2019
Finding a special book is like discovering a new best friend; Stewart and Small celebrate the friendships between books and readers. Color-washed in soothing purples, Small's trademark loose drawings depict characters of multiple gender presentations, races, and ages from infant to adult. A baby on its parent's lap chews a book cover. Waking at night, a scared child reaches for a comforting book. A naturalist in the field refers to a guide to identify butterflies. Other examples show readers inspired to draw the story they've just read, perform a dramatic reading for an audience, translate the notes of a score into music, or simply read for pleasure on the beach. Within each spread, that reader's special book stands out in a splash of contrasting color. Particularly friendly to early readers, the text is simple and written in the tone and form of a vow of friendship. It begins: "I take this book... / to be my friend" and ends "A treasure for a lifetime, / this book friend of mine." Short rhyming couplets describe the scenes on most spreads and explore the wide-ranging relationships readers have with books, including a book's memory-evoking scent: "To open it wide / and put my nose inside." A book likely to be snapped up by book lovers. (Picture book. 4-6)

COPYRIGHT(2019) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from August 1, 2019

PreS-Gr 3-In a lovely salute to the power of reading, brief text meets exquisitely drawn pen and ink illustrations, brushed with a wash of purple. Stewart and Small showcase individuals of various ages interacting with books and include visuals of the shoes-off, stockings-only comfort of those deeply lost in their books, a baby chewing a tasty cover, or a reader taking a deep sniff inside a well-loved work. Whether it's reading aloud to an invisible crowd or finding pleasure while reading on a sandy beach, book lovers everywhere are encouraged to remember their own book friendship, a small "treasure for a lifetime" and a celebration of the devoted relationship between reader and book. VERDICT Bibliophiles unite. This is a glorious first-purchase for all libraries.-Mary Elam, Learning Media Services, Plano ISD, TX

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.