LIS 721 Books to Inspire Childlike Wonder

 Hop (2016) Written and illustrated by Jorey Hurley. Hop gives insight into a day in the life of a cottontail rabbit family using simple one word narration and earthy toned illustrations. Each spread focuses on a single action word like “Hop,” “Listen,” and “Hide.” Since the story follows a mother rabbit and her young, each word feels like a command given to the children by the mother to teach them how to approach life and survive. Even though the book only has a total of 15 words in its entirety, it does not lack a plot by any means. The book does not need subject-verb structured sentences because right away the reader will realize that the rabbits are the subjects. They are the ones taking each action, and it is clear through the use of the images. Instead, the child can focus on what each action means and why the rabbits are taking the action based on the clues they get from the illustrations. The illustrations themselves are matte saturations of natural colors mainly involvin...

Babies Love Colors (2018) Written by Michelle Rhodes Conway and illustrated by Fhiona Galloway. Part of a series, this interactive board book uses flaps to provide multiple examples of the six colors focused on. Each page provides a list of items in that color put to rhyme after an opening statement of "I like [color]." While the formula of the structure stays the same throughout the book, the writing provides some variation by alternating the end of each section, either providing two more items (“Orange fruit and orange hat.”) or a more involved sentence regarding one item doing some kind of action (“Green kites catch the breeze”). This variation especially stands out because it is supported by the flaps in the book that encourage the child to be engaged with the book. Each time the flap is lifted, the reader is unsure of the contents beneath; will it be a colorful item taking action or two related examples. For some children, however, the variation and suspense it provides ...