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PRESCHOOL
Smith, Lane

Stickler Loves the World

40 pp. | Random/Random House Studio | August, 2023 | Trade ISBN 9780593649831 $18.99 | Library ISBN 9780593649848 $21.99 | Ebook ISBN 9780593649855 $10.99
(2) PS Design by Molly Leach. Smith (A Gift for Nana, rev. 5/22) again explores a world of friendly monsters, talking animals, and personified inanimate objects, here celebrating childlike curiosity, wonder, and appreciation. The open-hearted Stickler, a troll-like creature with sticks for hair and an ever-shifting number of googly eyeballs, sees its friend Crow with its head stuck in a can and mistakes it for an alien visitor. Stickler takes it upon itself to share with Crow "the wonders of my planet." Morning sunbeams, waving waves, twirling maple seeds, and other seemingly ordinary features of nature are presented to Crow with reverence. Smith's mixed-media illustrations vary in color, texture, and medium between scenarios, from a fluid splatter-splash effect for water to sharply three-dimensional craggy textures for rocks. Language and text size and placement are skillfully employed throughout, both through Leach's expressive design and Smith's quippy humor. It is only after a full day of experiencing natural wonders that the can is removed from Crow's head, but instead of discontent, Crow reveals that Stickler's perspective "did open my eyes." Additional flourishes,­ such as day and night endpapers and drop-cap lettering (made from sticks, of course), further extend and enrich the reading experience. Smith continues to explore big ideas through oddball characters;­ as Stickler says, "If you think about it, our world has some pretty weird stuff in it!"
Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: September, 2023

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