Everywhere, Wonder by Matthew Swanson illustrated by Bobbi Behr

"I have a story to share. It is a little gift from me to you. You might not know it, but you have a story, too. You'll find it in the things you stop to notice."

The child in this book, is reading a book. We see the page open on an illustration of the pyramids. Turn the page and voila you are there. Then on you go to Arizona, Brazil, mountains in Japan, Kenya, see salmon swimming in Alaska and you could even see that solitary footprint on the surface of the moon. 

All of these things (and many more) are now part of your story.

The polar bear "walked off this page and into your head. Now he is part of your story."

So, there are wonders in books from places around the world that you can only imagine or see in a book but also there are wonders to see all around you - close to home. Even in a bowl of soup. 

The strongest illustrations are those that play with negative space, as when a polar bear wanders off the ice and into the child’s white-walled room, the one blending seamlessly with the other. A journey of the imagination, the book could be of use as a teaching tool to encourage budding writers and creators to notice and imagine stories based on both what they know and what they dream of. Kirkus

You could perhaps use the first part of this book to explore the 2024 CBCA slogan - Reading is Magic. This book was published in 2017 and it is still available but sadly I think it may be way too expensive for a school library here in Australia. You can see inside this book here. Here is the web page for husband and wife team - Matthew Swanson and Robbi Behr. They have made 84 books together - 70 self published. You can see them here talking in a video (19 minutes) and reading Everywhere, wonder with tiny animated moments.