The Questioneers and Big Bright Feelings series are a set of books dealing with social themes, such as confidence, being different, trying and failing, fears, lack of friendships all set for the (strong) four and up crowd. Aaron Slater, Illustrator by Andrea Beaty and David Roberts on illustrations, and Tom Percival doing double duty with Meesha Makes Friends continue the themes.
Beaty and Roberts use bold, bright, busy text and colors in Aaron Slater, Illustrator. The rhymes and fantastic illustrations (that are brassy, sassy, and filled with all the good things) tell the story about how Aaron, needing to write a story, finds a way to give a tear-in-the-eye-gasping one, despite his struggles with reading. Aaron’s imagination is rich, and intense. Miss Greer (recognizable from the other Questioneers books) and her second-grade class once again help children with issues they might be having. The extras/afterwards includes information about dyslexia.
And then we have Meesha Makes Friends with a slightly younger format. Aaron ranges from ages 5 and up, whereas Meesha can go slightly younger. Percival shows us how a shy child is able to go out and about and finally learn how to be a friend. The concept is simple, not simplistic, and relatable. With Meesha, we have seen this story before, and this one is not much different from others; however, it does have a slightly more diverse cast than some books. This picture book is simply illustrated, but not skimping on the needed details or text.
Learning has probably not been as fun as it is in these two series.