I was instantly drawn to this book when I laid eyes on it. I was drawn by the simple graphic punch of the line drawing next to the bold red text, a breath of fresh air amongst the glittery, pop-up, squeak toy, electronic button books that drive me up the wall. I'm a purist, I want my book to be a book, and while I've slowly come around to the idea of the "touch and feel" books (by seeing how much my kids enjoyed them as infants), my favorites are still the simplest. And over and over I find the gadgety books get played with for ten intense minutes, and then are forgotten ever more. But I digress...
Based on the idea of kids playing with a cardboard box this sweet book asks its protagonist, a bunny, "what are you doing with that box?" over and over to which the bunny always replies, "its not a box!" His box becomes a race-car, a robot, even a mountain top in Antoinette Portis' simple line drawings. Not A Stick follows the same tradition, with a stick and this time a pig. I love the simple story and pictures because it allows my kids to follow the story on their own, and enables them to "read" it to me. There is also room for them to decided what is happening in the picture, something that can be missing from a more detailed picture book. I define a book's success in my house by how many times I am asked to read it, and how often I am asked to read it immediately after its finished. These are two little books I could recite in my sleep, as could my four year old, and now even my two year old. They are instant classics.
Find them here.
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