ACCESS DIGITIZED EDITION
Guide/Reviews Database
PICTURE BOOKS
Lin, Grace , Messner, Kate

Once upon a Book

40 pp. | Little | February, 2023 | Trade ISBN 978-0-316-54107-7 $18.99
(1) K-3 Illustrated by Grace Lin. Cold sleet is falling, and the protagonist of this home-and-back-again adventure tale, Alice, is stuck inside, bored. Then she spots a book on the floor and starts to read: "Once upon a time, there was a girl... She went to a place alive with colors, where even the morning dew was warm." "That sounds like our home," says one of the book's characters (a flamingo), who invites the child into the book. She climbs in and spends time with the animal characters. When it starts to rain, she wishes to be elsewhere, and the camels in the desert on the next spread of the book (one she's both inhabiting and holding in her hands) invite her to join them: "Turn the page and come in." And so it goes, the girl on a thrilling journey of the imagination, swimming through a coral reef, floating in space, and much more. At home, Alice has a plush rabbit and rabbit-shaped slippers, but a real (and vigilant) rabbit accompanies her on her journey; readers can seek-and-find it on every spread. The text builds patterns and a pleasing rhythm with repeating sentence structures; children will delight in anticipating what comes next. Lin's lush full-bleed spreads invite readers to take the journey with Alice, whose dress changes color in each environment, making her blend into every one of the worlds. That Alice is an Asian girl says much about the authors' wishes for all children to see themselves in the books they read--in this case, quite literally.
Reviewer: Julie Danielson | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2023

RELATED 

PICTURE BOOKS

Born Ready
by Patterson, Jodie
PICTURE BOOKS

The House of Grass and Sky
by Ray, Mary Lyn
PICTURE BOOKS

The Dog's Gardener
by Storms, Patricia
PICTURE BOOKS

And I Paint It
by Kephart, Beth
PICTURE BOOKS

Poem in My Pocket
by Tougas, Chris
More

Get connected. Join our global community of more than 200,000 librarians and educators.

This coverage is free for all visitors. Your support makes this possible.

We are currently offering this content for free. Sign up now to activate your personal profile, where you can save articles for future viewing.

ALREADY A SUBSCRIBER?