THIS BOOK OF MINE

Finding a special book is like discovering a new best friend; Stewart and Small celebrate the friendships between books and readers.

Color-washed in soothing purples, Small’s trademark loose drawings depict characters of multiple gender presentations, races, and ages from infant to adult. A baby on its parent’s lap chews a book cover. Waking at night, a scared child reaches for a comforting book. A naturalist in the field refers to a guide to identify butterflies. Other examples show readers inspired to draw the story they’ve just read, perform a dramatic reading for an audience, translate the notes of a score into music, or simply read for pleasure on the beach. Within each spread, that reader’s special book stands out in a splash of contrasting color. Particularly friendly to early readers, the text is simple and written in the tone and form of a vow of friendship. It begins: “I take this book… / to be my friend” and ends “A treasure for a lifetime, / this book friend of mine.” Short rhyming couplets describe the scenes on most spreads and explore the wide-ranging relationships readers have with books, including a book’s memory-evoking scent: “To open it wide / and put my nose inside.”

A book likely to be snapped up by book lovers.