Autumn Overview: Picture Books

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, some of the books I read as part of my recent ‘reading challenge’ were picture books, so I’m starting my recap with a brief summary of those. I should probably add that I didn’t choose any of the books I read for this, and consequently while I normally avoid posting negative reviews I wanted to post a thorough recap of this challenge, so the negatives are in there too. In fact, I found many of the picture books chosen for this a bit disappointing, but there were some highlights like One Fox or The Suitcase.

When Sadness Comes to Call by Eve Eland – Heart-warming, relatable and positive. The simple style and colour pallette work well with the text and the book is ideal for both those with experience of depression, explaining mental health to young readers or simply looking at feelings with little ones.

One Fox, A Counting Book Thriller by Kate Read – Loved this! Funny, clever, witty and gorgeous, stylish illustrations. Look forward to more from this author.

Otto Blotter, Bird Spotter by Graham Carter- An enjoyable read aloud with beautiful, rich illustrations. A great addition to bedtime story collections!

The Light in the Night by Marie Voigt – While I’m a fan Marie Voigt’s illustration style and this was a pleasant enough ‘don’t be scared of the dark’ story, it was a bit too sickly sweet for my tastes.

Big Cat by Emma Lazell – Delightfully daft, a fun read aloud with engaging text and busy illustrations.

Otto Goes North by Ulrike Kestere – Loved the illustrations, the sense of place, culture and craft. Less sold on the story itself, despite really wanting to like it as I LOVE lemurs!

The Green Giant by Katie Cottle – Really liked the lush and textured illustrations, but was less keen on the plot, as much as there was one, which didn’t make much sense to me. 

It’s Your World Now by Barry Falls – Really liked the collage style of the illustrations, and can see this being really popular and well-used in schools and as a gift, but it felt a bit twee to me personally.

Me and My Sister by Rose Robbins – While adults would get it it felt too vague for most children to understand the autism factor (which anyway varies wildly so I’d also be a bit worried this would be taken as ‘this is how being autistic is’) and too dull for them to enjoy it as a story in its own right. Would be better to see a story featuring an autistic character where the story is unrelated, in my opinion.

Once Upon a Unicorn Horn by Beatrice Blue – Wordy, saccharine and not for me! Lots of children will love the unicorn factor, but that is about as far as this goes. Honestly, I really did not get on with this book!

My Hair by Hannah Lee illustrated by Allen Fatimaharan – Plenty of potential appeal and I really liked the illustrations of all the different hairstyles. Great to see some BAME representation.

Look Up! by Nathan Bryon, illustrated by Dopo Adeola – A nice enough story to read aloud and great to see some BAME characters, but not one that wow-ed me.

I also read The Suitcase by Chris Naylor-Ballasteros which for some reason has escaped the photos! It’s one I love though and you can read my review of that here.

Of course, we’ve read lots and lots of other picture books with Peapod too. I’ve only included those I was sent as part of this challenge here.

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