Here Is a Book
Elisha Cooper. Abrams, $18.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-4197-6675-6
In a winningly granular work that shows how components make up a whole, Caldecott Honoree Cooper uses list-forward lines and thumbnail-like sketches to trace a book’s creation, from inspiration onward. An artist, a tiny form briefly outlined, sits sketching outside a seaside cottage, penciled images flying forth. Indoors, her art studio overflows with “paper, pencils, watercolors, brushes, sketches, drafts, a wastebasket.” Miniature vignettes show the figure painting, wielding a pencil, considering images on the wall. Finally, the finished manuscript heads to a publisher’s office (“editors, designers, assistants”) and then to a printer (“printing presses, binding machines, glue”). Sweeping vistas next follow the finished volume’s journey to a city school library, where it at last reaches a reader. The child’s imagination is set alight, and, surrounded by classic picture books, the reader sits down with a sketchbook and forms a new stream of images. It’s a step-by-step representation of how a book comes into being, focused on how much depends on “teamwork, time, beauty, adventure, grit, inspiration, curiosity, action, structure, humor, wonder, and love.” Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)
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Reviewed on: 01/30/2025
Genre: Children's