I have the most fun book to share for Perfect Picture Book Friday today!
Just wait until you see it!
It’s like Alice In Wonderland, Where The Sidewalk Ends, and The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar combined and expanded on and reinvented into a picture book! Have a look!
Title: How To Eat A Book
Written By: Mr. MacLeod
Illustrated By: Mrs. MacLeod
Publisher: Union Square Kids, October 4, 2022
Suitable For Ages: 3-8
Themes/Topics: reading, imagination, whimsy
Opening: “Sheila sat down to eat her first book,
and the strangest thing happened. . .
The book ate HER.”
text and illustration copyright Mr. & Mrs. MacLeod 2022, Union Square Kids
Brief Synopsis: One by one, cousins Sheila, Gerald, and Geraldine Grunion are eaten . . . by their books! And the experience changes their them for the good (except for Geraldine who is simply terrible 😊)
text and illustration copyright Mr. & Mrs. MacLeod 2022, Union Square Kids
text and illustration copyright Mr. & Mrs. MacLeod 2022, Union Square Kids
text and illustration copyright Mr. & Mrs. MacLeod 2022, Union Square Kids
Links To Resources: download coloring sheets from the author/illustrator website and have fun making your own dramatic art; What kind of books do YOU like to “eat”? Draw a picture in your own style of something in one of your favorite books; Have you ever been so caught up in a book that you felt “eaten” by it? What book was it? Find more like it! What do YOU think would be the best thing you could find or experience in a book?
Watch the trailer:
Why I Like This Book: Wonderfully weird is my best description for this book. Many books I read once or twice and then write my review. But this one made me read it over and over, and begged me to examine the art closely. The characters are whimsical, each with their own distinct personality. Shiela questions everything. Gerald has a tendency to get lost. Geraldine is obviously and delightfully the trouble-maker of the group. When the books eat the children, each child has a different experience. Sheila finds amazement and wonder, a whole new world of questions. Gerald enters a new world and is brave enough to examine it up close, only to discover that it is wonderful. Geraldine finds a place where it’s “terrific to be terrible” and she exults in immersing herself. The book finishes – although it doesn’t really feel like the story ends, it feels more like a beginning – by turning on its head. The children go from being eaten by the books to devouring them, suggesting that a whole new world has opened for them. The art is “dipped pen-and-ink cutout art, photographed in a three-dimensional stage diorama, and hand colored”, so fantastical and attention-grabbing it’s impossible not to want to inspect every detail. All I can say is you have to see it to truly get it. Kids and adults will both enjoy this celebration of what reading can be!
text and illustration copyright Mr. & Mrs. MacLeod 2022, Union Square Kids
I hope you enjoy it as much as I do 😊
For the complete list of books with resources, please visit Perfect Picture Books.
PPBF folks, please add your titles and post-specific blog links (and any other info you feel like filling out 😊) to the form below so we can all come see what fabulous picture books you’ve chosen to share this week!
Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 😊
Susanna Leonard Hill 
This book sounds amazing. I keep saying I need to write books like this…and then I get busy doing another pb bio. Thanks for sharing it, Susanna.
This book is one of those wonderfully imaginative and different books, Vivian! I keep thinking of things like A Series of Unfortunate Events for picture books or something 😊
Wonderfully weird is a great description and I am very intrigued. Can’t wait to get it at the library. I love “falling” into books and living in another world for a while. Thanks for sharing it.
I mean, you really have to see it to fully appreciate it, Maria! I hope you can get it from your library!
A masterpiece!
It IS, Eleanor! The art is amazing!
A very good book to have with a glass of chianti and fava beans. Fun illustrations will keep the kids wanting more.
And I think they will all love Geraldine, Bru – she’s my favorite 🤣
Absolutely novel!
Yes, Phyllis, exactly!
What a great blend of art and story and totally off the wall weird! Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome, Robin! I hope you get a chance to see it! As writers, it’s the kind of book that reminds us to think outside the box!
Love this!
It’s fabulous, Laura!
Susan! The OPENING LINE is perhaps one of the BEST page-turners I’ve ever read: “Sheila sat down to eat her first book,
and the strangest thing happened. . .”
AND THEN…the authors grab you instantly with the next line! I see why it’s your choice for Perfect Picture Book Friday.
Once again, Susan, I thank you for creating your “Making Picture Book Magic” online course. The step-by-step course pages in my binder are beginning to curl from so much use. You are truly a mentor for us!
I know, isn’t it great, Marsha? I’m glad it made you want to turn the page too! And thank you for your kind words about MPBM – I’m so glad if it’s been helpful!
I joke that I “eat books up like they are chocolate” but the truth is, I would never really EAT a book. And the very idea of a book eating me is … well, it sort of makes sense. Like those times when I get so immersed in a story I feel like I’m in that world and the “real world” is far, far away.
Exactly, Sue! And in this case, getting lost in the books is kind of like the books devouring them at the same time they are devouring the books!
Thanks for sharing! I’ve added it to my hold list at the library! It looks so fun!
I hope you like it as much as I do, Kim! It’s such a departure – really fresh and different!
Who are these book creators? They’re wildly wacky and wonderful and spot on in making a book that pulls the reader into the story. 😉
I know, right? And I love that they are “Mr. & Mrs. McLeod” – that makes them seem kind of mysterious – like they don’t have actual names! 😊
Like the theme of the book and the 3D artwork. Sounds quirky, very entertaining and that will appeal to kids — especially reluctant readers. Great choice!
It’s a very different kind of book, Pat, and I think it will appeal to the same readers who will later enjoy A Series of Unfortunate Events, and Roald Dahl.
On my wishlist! This looks so unique and fun – thanks so much for sharing
It is certainly unique, Laura, although I get the sense there may be more to follow! 😊
Holy cow, Susanna!!!! This is a MUST READ!!! must HAVE!!! as in Cookie monster’s ME WANT COOKIE!!! Which brings me to the question, do you eat the cookie, or does it eat you? Thanks for sharing this fabulous book!!!
You’re welcome, Jilanne! I hope you get to read it – it’s really very well done! And I hope you like it as much as I do! Also, I don’t care who whether I eat the cookie or it eats me as long as there are cookies! 😊
Oh wow! This book sounds delicious! Can’t wait to eat it …I mean read it!!!! Thanks Susanna for sharing it! 🙂
My pleasure, Susan! I hope you get to read it – it’s quite an experience 😊
What amazing artwork. That alone would draw you in, but equally compelling is the first line. Oh my! A perfect choice, Susanna. It’s going on my TBR list for sure.
It’s such fun, Marty – so unique!
This book sounds deeelicious! I can’t wait to read, reread and reread!
Enjoy, Patti! Nomnomnomnomnom😊