My Book and Me
by Linda Sue Park; illus. by Chris Raschka
Preschool, Primary    Red Comet    32 pp.
6/24    9781636550947    $18.99

Park and Raschka capture with deep understanding and admirable simplicity children’s attachment to their favorite books. Each of Park’s unpretentious nonrhyming quatrains is accompanied by a portrait of a different child, in Raschka’s recognizable impressionistic style and harmonious colors. “This is my book. / My favorite book. / I carry it with me / wherever I go” features a young Black girl holding an umbrella and her book, striding through puddles on a rainy day. “I don’t hear you call. / I can’t come right now. / I’m too far away / in the world of my book” depicts a blind girl reading a book in braille, curled up on a rug with her cat. Other poems see a boy reading by soft light, tucked into bed at night with his stuffed animals; a girl absorbed in her book on a crowded subway; a boy in a wheelchair dressed up as his favorite character (a pirate). The total effect is warm and childlike; the diversity of children and experiences is welcome. Altogether a winning paean to childhood reading.

From the May/June 2024 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.