A Place To Read

PreS-Gr 2—When the reading mood strikes, a young bibliophile looks for a comfy place to sit. In "Goldilocks" fashion, the floppy-haired boy tries out several possible spots, all to no avail. An oversize, overstuffed armchair with floral patterns attracts too many "buzz-buzzy" bees. A furry, monster-shaped chaise is uncomfortably "growly, itchy, FUZZY." Heading outdoors, the child tries reading in the woods, but it's too dark and a hooting owl is a distraction. Other rejected locales include a "smelly, stinky, grimy" garbage-strewn alleyway; a "slippy, slimy" lily pad; and a faraway, star-filled galaxy. Hodgkinson's whimsical multimedia and digital collage illustrations are bursting with color, pattern, and texture. The brief, conversational text comes alive with figurative language and creative typefaces (the letters in "cold" look like they are shivering, and the letters in "tree" sprout branches and leaves). When the perfect hidey-hole seems to be elusive, the child has an epiphany: "It doesn't matter where you sit…a book is best anywhere…a book is best when you SHARE."