A Book is a Book by Jenny Bornholdt and Sarah Wilkins
| A Book is a Book by Jenny Bornholdt and Sarah Wilkins | |
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| Category: Emerging Readers | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: While it clearly preaches to the converted, this poetic whimsy is a pleasant gift for the emergent reader. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 40 | Date: February 2014 |
| Publisher: Gecko Press | |
| ISBN: 9781877579929 | |
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Yes, children – adults lie to you. Sometimes, even in the titles of the books they make for you, like this one. A book is a door, it's great for boredom, it's fine for time up a tree, or in the bath (just not the shower). It can be borrowed, and then lent if it's a great one you enjoyed. It's certainly never the case that a book is just a book, as the title of this book would have you believe.
OK, though, it doesn't have the word 'just' in it. A book is a book is a book, perhaps, and we're not to be scared of them (scary is good, what's more). Nobody will be scared by this little volume, as it's designed to encourage the reader, to prove to them that books are all that we adults have ever made them out to be. It's warm, it's a little quirky when mentioning jam a bit too much, but it's nicely affirmative, and almost reaching blank verse in the way it supports the ideas of books.
Beyond the words, the illustrations are great, and are equally easy to read. This itself says a picture book is one you read, but if you doubt that you read images too, try these. In one spread, the end of a bed is weighed down heavily by the kinds of volumes it's not so easy to take to read at night; scan the eyes right and the rest of the bed is cantilevered into the air, looking like the perfect bucking bed the wannabe cowgirl encouraged to ask for 'cattle rustling' books at the library would love.
This is but one example of the ways the creators have found to show how expertly books can animate our lives. They animate these pages too, with simple writing, warm touches (rabbit-ear slippers, etc) and more. Yes it's clearly something that preaches to the converted – the foreword suggests it's more a promotional item than a gift book – but it is heartfelt and sincere, and what it's not is lumpenly worthy. It's also accurate, but proves that the ironic title is nowhere near the whole of the story.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy.
Learn to read more pictures with the wonderful and clever Crayon by Simon Rickerty.
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You can read more book reviews or buy A Book is a Book by Jenny Bornholdt and Sarah Wilkins at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy A Book is a Book by Jenny Bornholdt and Sarah Wilkins at Amazon.com.
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