Review by Booklist Review
This inviting picture book welcomes children to the public library, where each volume carries two stories: the one printed on its pages, and the cumulative tale created during the book's journeys, going home with one child after another. Those everyday adventures explain why some pages might be wrinkled (a pet cat sat on the open book) or have tooth marks (a book caught in a tug-of-war between a girl and her puppy) or water damage (a book that served as an umbrella during a rainstorm). Outside those harrowing escapades were the many wonderful times when a child and a parent or grandparent read the book together or a child reveled in reading the book independently. The book in question is called Our Incredible Library Book, and the jacket art looks very familiar. Written in an upbeat, natural-sounding manner, the rhymed verses create a rhythmic cadence that will draw children into the saga of the book's experiences. Hand-drawn with digital brushes, the well-composed, vibrant illustrations radiate warmth and good humor. A pleasing addition to library collections.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
A library volume grows worn and weathered as it circulates through a metropolitan community in this picture book, its journey captured with jaunty rhymes: "It grew dog-eared and dirty, and taped here and there./ But those marks told the tale of a book made to share." Crowe opens with the book's first day, when it's checked out by Nia, who devours it while eating broccoli. Next comes Luis, who reads it to Abuela, and the list continues as others enjoy, and leave marks of use on, the work. Joseph's sunny illustrations incorporate readers of varied abilities and skin tones, and as the volume changes hands, the pages begin to show evidence of previous readers, including a cup ring from Nia's cocoa, paw prints from Hanna's cat, and crayon marks from Minnie and Vince. The overall effect whimsically celebrates the adventure that is reading--for reader and book alike. Ages 4--8. (Apr.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A familiar, well-loved item travels from reader to reader. The book opens on a busy library's children's room, filled with a diverse group of people. There, we're introduced to a "tattered and worn" picture book (with the same cover as the one in readers' hands). When it was new, the narrator tells us, Nia, a Black girl, was the first one to check it out; it proved to be captivating reading during dinner. Other borrowers--who also appeared in the opening scene--check out the book, reading it with a parent, grandparent, sibling, or pet. Some experience their first time borrowing a book or their first independent read; for others, it's a shared delight. Brown-skinned Farhan finds the book a consolation while sick. Crowe's rhyming couplets convey an exuberant experience of borrowing, reading, and loving books, brought to life by Joseph's whimsical, cheery artwork. The book in question endures dog-earing (and dog chewing), wrinkling, and more as it is borrowed over and over. Conscientious librarians may wince at the worsening condition of this book still in circulation, but the message is clear: The pleasure that a favorite library book brings lives on long after an individual reader returns it, and its wear and tear are simply a part of its story. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A sweetly clever reminder about the intrinsic good that libraries deliver. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
