The picture book My Book and Me by Linda Sue Park (illustrated by Chris Raschka; Red Comet Press, 2024) is a poem championing a child’s favorite book. It’s told with a first person child’s voice and, with Raschka’s distinct and unique, almost childlike, illustrations, it becomes universal with many children sharing their thoughts about their favorite book.
Did your child have a favorite picture book they would carry around the house? Mine did. They went through stages with various different favorite books, and yes, sometimes they dragged it along with them out of the house, simply because they didn’t want to leave it. (For a while, my little one would carry Peter Rabbit around the house because it was just the right size for her 2-year old hands.)
Linda Sue Park’s words are from a first person point of view, a child’s perspective in describing what the favorite book looks like and where she takes it and who she reads it with. Ultimately, the child says
I move like the characters,
Groove like the characters,
Dress like the characters —
Guess who I am?
I love the words. I think it’s really sweet, and the subject of a favorite book is so familiar that many can relate.
The illustrations by Chris Raschka are different from many picture book illustration. He has a more abstract style that seems mostly water color but also incorporates marker or crayon or pastels. It is obvious that the illustrations show people and books but you can always step back to look at him to get a bigger view of the art. His abstract style won’t be a favorite for every reader, but it certainly unique. Such abstract and yet recognizable art requires significant talent. He accomplishes a lot with broad strokes of color and shape.
One thing that I love about the illustrations is that every page depicts a different child. Some of the pages depict a child with long hair, and other pages show short hair. One shows a child with a mother and another a child on a subway. The children have different colored hair; glasses, no glasses. On one page, Raschka illustrates a child reading Braille! There’s huge variety in the “favorite books” too. One book has pictures of horses; others have flowers, people, a restaurant, etc.
I really do like the simplicity of illustrations, with the exception of the picture on the cover. I feel it was an unfortunate choice. The girl pictured has her neck bent and her neck looks strange, almost as if she is in a painful position. I wish there was a different picture chosen for the cover.
The sentiment and the diversity depicted in this book make it a fun book for children to read, especially those with their own “favorite book.”
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance review copy of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
