Some months ago I mentioned the author Kyo Maclear and her book Fog. While I was researching Kyo I came across The Good Little Book. It's taken me a little while to source this book but has been well worth the wait. This is a book to treasure and one that should be part of every school library collection.
Let's begin with the illustrator - Marion Arbona. She comes from Montreal in Canada and I adore her art. Here is one illustration from The Good Little Book but if you click on her name above you can see many more examples of her work.
Now look at the text. Here is are the opening lines:
"Once there was a good little book. It had fine printed pages and a simple cover and a strong spine. It sat on a shelf in a study lined with other books. There were thick books and thin books. Books for racing through quickly and books for savoring slowly. Some books were popular. Others were less popular. The good little book was neither thick nor thin, popular nor unpopular. It had no shiny medals to boast of. It didn't even own a proper jacket."
Are you laughing? I hope you are. No jacket! A strong spine! No medals! I guess you might have noticed The Good Little Book has no dust jacket (of course).
The Good Little Book or should I write the good little book, is found by a young boy. He has been naughty and he finds himself in a study filled with books. He picks up the good little book and his life is transformed (sort of).
"No matter what his days held in store, the boy never tired of reading the good little book. It didn't turn him into a bookish boy, or improve his naughty behavior, but it did become a loyal companion, there to see him to sleep and to distract him when he had to 'think things over'."
Are you looking for a writing model? We talk about including a complication in a story to hold interest and keep the plot moving. I'm sure you have guessed this - "The boy lost his favorite book." Kyo Maclear explains her reasons for writing this story.
In libraries we often talk about end papers - the paper found as part of the binding at the front and back of a book. In The Good Little Book the designs are scrumptious and also funny because someone has scribbled on them.
Seriously though, this is all around a really, really “good little book”. (Plus that face on the cover, swoon!) Book Nerd Mommy
I love the idea of reading about reading, reading about books, and reading about reading books. Here are a set of excellent teaching notes and discussion questions to use with The Good Little Book. The topic or theme of reading and the discoveries we make from books might be one you include when you are planning your book choices for young children. Here are a few other titles I would share on this theme:
Here is a set of teaching notes for The Lonely Book.
I'm going to finish this post with one more example of the beautiful art by Marion Arbona. It comes from a French picture book Fred Petitchatminou.
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