Again! by Emily Gravett


Again! is the newest book from Emily Gravett. I fell in love with Gravett's picture books when I read her first, Orange Pear Apple Bear, which came out in 2007 an makes a fantastic board book! Made up of only five words and gentle pencil lines and water color washes, Orange Pear Apple Bear is a stellar example of a seemingly simple picture book that makes a lasting impression. Gravett's books range from the seemingly simple (Orange Pear Apple Bear, Blue Chameleon, Monkey and Me) to picture books with long narratives and detailed manipulatives like flaps, folds, postcards, die cuts and more (Meerkat Mail, Little Mouse's Big Book of Fears, Spells). And, of course, there is The Rabbit Problem, which I reviewed back in 2011. Every book is beautifully drawn and illustrated with a a palette that somehow manages to be vibrant and gentle at the same time.

With Again! and her story of a little dragon who loves his bedtime book, Gravett delivers something in between - a seemingly simple story with a lot going on. Mama dragon reads little dragon (no assigned gender for this little dragon, thanks Emily!) a bedtime story. Little dragon wants it AGAIN! The text of the bedtime story is printed in Again! (see illustrations below) and it changes as Mama dragon gets sleepier and less able to read and little dragon gets more and more frustrated. As this plays out, the text of the bedtime story changes also (see below again) until little dragon does what dragons do. The end results can be seen on the back over of the book, which is a bit charred and has a clever little hole in it... Which is one other thing that I love about Emily Gravett's books - the production value. I always take of the dust jacket to see if there are any extras and Gravett never disappoints. If you remove the dust jacket of Again! you will find a beautiful hardcover that looks exactly like the cover of little dragon's book!
  




More books by Emily Gravett! I always intend to only share the covers of her other books, but I love her illustrations so much I tend to get carried away. Sadly, Cave Baby, written by the amazing Julia Donaldson, and Matilda's Cat are not available in the US - yet.
















 
The Rabbit ProblemSpells


Source: Review Copy

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