Candlewick Press | Daddy Mojo

Books Aren’t For Eating, illustrated comfort book food on leveling up

Growth is good. That’s not exactly what Gordon Gekko said, but let’s keep that phrase in the context of schooling and growth is good. That can happen in many forms, from not kicking the chair in front of you, to remembering to bring a pencil to those younger ages when they stop chewing on the pages of books. It’s a special day when board books can go the way of the Do Do and those pre-k kids know that the time for that is nigh. Books Aren’t For Eating is silly, illustrated book fun that pre-k and K kids know, but will draw in their own parallels as to things that they know that they shouldn’t be doing at that age.

Books Aren’t For Eating is a basic truth and an old-soul, illustrated book that’ll make those who might be tempted to, stop and think about it.

A message for those who know they shouldn’t, but really want to, until they don’t

Anglerfish The Seadevil of the Deep, fun STEM for one and all

Fish aren’t inherently evil or bad. However, if you were to pose the question of what’s the evilest fish of them all then the Anglerfish would surely be in that mix. If nothing else, then that glowing light that’s on the end of the fishing rod on their head would qualify them by some people’s classification. If you didn’t know what an Anglerfish was before, then that description certainly painted exactly which fish we’re talking about. Anglerfish, The Seadevil of the Deep is an illustrated book by Elaine M. Alexander with illustrations by Fiona Fogg. This is on the STEM side of illustrated books and presents this mysterious fish in a way that will entertain, make kids curious, and drop little nuggets of knowledge that they’ll gleefully share with their friends.

Anglerfish: The Seadevil of the Deep is an illustrated book that examines a mysterious creature and makes it an unlikely hero.

C’mon in, the water’s fine

This is a School will be a staple in elementary school libraries

This is a School is a picture book that seemingly every school librarian and teacher was talking about during the start of the school year. Starting the process of going to school can be quite scary for those young students. Going to school can also be a very exciting time. Sometimes, when the emotions of ‘scared’ and ‘excited’ combine it creates a troublesome experience for educators and parents called chaos. This is a School is a gentle, go-to picture book that introduces elementary school for those ages who are young enough to envision it as a mysterious place of wonder.

This is a School is a picture book that introduces pre-k kids and those slightly older to the wonders, fun and routines that makeup the school day.

This is the pre-k, intro to school book that you’re looking for

I’m a Neutrino, STEM-based, illustrated wonderment for ages 4-8

Assuming that an illustrated book is fact-based, and not some interpretive trip about what a cloud looks like, adults shouldn’t need to be told what it’s about, should they? Ah, dear reader, these are times when board books can be about quantum physics and illustrated books can tell true tales about things that you never learned about in school. So, no, sometimes adults will read an illustrated book and still have no idea as to how to describe, talk about or understand what they just read, but that’s ok. In the end, we all want this generation to be smarter and better than us, don’t we? To that end, I’m a Neutrino, Tiny Particles in a Big Universe is a beautifully illustrated book about a tiny thing that you’ll never see, yet there are billions of them zipping around us at any moment.

I’m a Neutrino is an illustrated book that’s probably smarter than you, but that’s ok. Kids will like it, think about the possibilities and use that seed to better us all.

Fear not the illustrated books that you need help understanding

Prehistoric Pets, a data-heavy dino pop-up, in a good way

If there’s one thing that Jurassic Park taught us it’s that chicken-sized dinosaurs, even if they had feathers, were vicious creatures that did not play around and could kill you in a number of different ways. Prehistoric Pets takes that idea, puts it into a pop-up book, and creates a colorful, read-to-me book that will entice readers aged five and up.

Prehistoric Pets is a pop-up book where the art starts the trip, but the text takes the reader further due to all of the details.

Prehistoric Pets is dino, pop-up fun on poster board paper

Love, a pop-up book that delivers in its simple complexity

When I was a kid I had a pop-up book. To me, it was akin to wondering if the refrigerator light stays on when you shut the door. I found myself mentally twisting and turning as to what the 3-D elements did once I closed the page. Then, a couple of decades later I was volunteering at a book festival when I learned about Robert Sabuda. I saw some of his books and my definition of what makes a good pop-up book changed forever. Love is a Robert Sabuda book. And if you’re familiar with his work the surprise in this one is that it skews just a bit younger and is simpler, while still being mind-bendingly complex.

Robert Sabuda is the king of pop-up books, just open one to see why