This Book of Mine: A Picture Book by wife and husband team Sarah Stewart (one heck of a writer) and David Small (one heck of an illustrator) is a poetic look at the things we do with books: read, enjoy, chew, learn, even smell them.
WHAT? You have never smelled a book? And you call yourself a bibliophile!
All kidding aside, I was not expecting a lot of out this short book. Mostly because my inner kid kicked in when I saw the title and I thought “This is my book. Not yours. My book.” And figured it was a book about sharing. Instead, it is a book about books. How books make us feel and how we partake in them. It is an engaging poem, quick story and a treat. It talks about how anyone can read a book. From the very young (the baby chewing on the book) to an older gentleman looking at a book of music, so he and a young girl can play a duet together.
The illustrations of Small are anything but. They a fun, and while not bold, have the right amount of color and invoke a calm feeling like many books do. Even if you are a young kid pretending to be Mr. Peter Pan himself. The best part of the art (and even perhaps of the book, though the text is very much enjoyable) is the last page where you see all the shapes, sizes, colors, religions and genders who have picked up a book and read.
I would say this could be a fun story-time book, but I know adult will appreciate this too. Easy text will help the beginning reader (though with help for the very beginner) be able to read it as well.
