This Small Blue Dot by Zeno Sworder

I think to fully appreciate this book you need to know a few things about the author Zeno Sworder. Begin with this video where he shows some pages from his book, then take a look at this interview. Here are some facts I gleaned from this interview:

• Zeno loved to draw from a young child especially with pencil but he didn't own the coveted set of 72 Derwent pencils until adulthood (and even now this is not enough colours)
• One day his, then six year old, daughter told him she couldn't be a Princess because princesses don't wear glasses. Zeno knew he wanted to show this is not true.
• Ms Crayon, the wise young girl in his book, is based on his daughter. After his second daughter was born he spent many nights recalling and writing the wisdom handed down to him from his English father (a lecturer in Greek Philosophy) and his Chinese Grandmother.
• Zeno says: "I also wanted to pass on the important lessons that I remembered from my grandmother and father: lessons about interconnectedness, beauty, the human continuum and how to use an imagination. In short, lessons about how to be in this world."

Here are two quotes from This Small Blue Dot that resonated with me:

"But remember, when it comes to people, there are some things you can't see. Beauty lives deep, deep inside the heart."

"Grandpa keeps telling me life isn't a race."

Image source Thames and Hudson

Do make sure you spend time on the end papers. Here is an activity pack to use with this book. I am quite confident that this book will be a CBCA Notable title in 2021.

Brilliantly conceived artistic images convey a touching and heartfelt story in this wonderfully modern style of picture book. Readers from 3 to 103 will relate to the confident and sassy narrator, who demonstrates the randomness of a young child’s thought processes, reminding us of the free-thinking wonderment of youth. Better Reading