Book! - Hardcover

Kristine O'Connell George, recipient of the Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award and Promising Poet Award, gives poetry workshops for children. She lives in Agoura, California.

Maggie Smith has illustrated several successful picture books, some of which she also wrote. Ms. Smith lives in New York City.

George (Little Dog Poems) and Smith (Beach Day) present an endearing homage to the pleasures of books. When the toddler narrator opens a present and discovers a volume entitled Bunnies, he and the book immediately become inseparable except for a brief moment when he observes its ingenious design: "I like the way you close./ I can put you on my shelf." The book can also be donned as a hat, loses no appeal when turned upside down and can be appreciated by a wide range of audiences from the pet cat to an infant sibling ("I'll show you to the baby"). George needs only a few words on each spread to convey the boy's unadulterated happiness ("I'll give you a hug, Book!"). Smith's pared-down, full-bleed acrylics with warm, subtly variegated backgrounds play up the hero's tiny but expressive eyes as well as the ongoing presence of the cat and a checkered stuffed elephant. Smith makes it clear that, while Book represents an exciting new chapter in the boy's life, his gift also fits neatly into his cozy world. Ages 2-4.

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