Because is one of those books, that when I was finished, I was out of breath and feeling slightly overwhelmed, but in a good way. I was afraid, as I am not a huge Mo Willems fan, that I was not going to enjoy this, but Because has a format that is unique, a story theme, while has been done before, has not be done in this exact way and some clever artwork.
Mo Willems and Amber Ren created a story about how things are connected and “just because X happened Y happens”: Because a man many years ago made a piece of music that inspired another man name Franz to write music that would make people want to hear it, and because a group of people happened to practice music and became good, they where chosen to perform in an orchestra that had a poster made that made people buy tickets and because of person fixed the lights a theater was able to have those people come to the concert and because and uncle was sick, his ticket was given to someone special who sat in a chair and became transformed and learned to create her own music and grew up to have people want hear her music, so it was played in an orchestra that allowed people to buy tickets and someone at that show was transformed as well.
The art is the key to the story. There are muted colors, but the are bold, too. And have the right pops of color where needed. Franz’s music is seen flowing throughout the book in a yellow color. When the young girls (now an adult) music is played it is green and it fades into a blue color. There are important tie-in details (pictures on wall are “flashbacks” to before in the story) and there are fun, hidden gems (the uncles’ tissues bunched on the floor tell all you need to know about why he is not going to the concert). Perhaps the best part is the page that is broken into four scenes, so you see the growth and progress of the girl of the story.
Get a copy for every child you know, for your child’s classroom (or your own) and read it. (Ages 5 to 8 but older children could start to read on their own).