In This Book by Fani Marceau and Joëlle Jolivet

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In This Book by Fani Marceau and Joëlle Jolivet, originally published in France (thus the French text in the illustrations, the only I could find) is a boldly illustrated meditation that is short on narrative but strong on images and connections, making this more of a concept book than a story. And, at 64 pages, it is also twice as long as most picture books.

"I am in the hair, said the barrette," and "I am in the nest, said the bird," are examples of the cadence of the text, with  "I am in the . . ." beginning each page.
The tone and the content flow from the everyday to the out of the ordinary, which takes In This Book to another level. "I am in the tree, said the monkey," and "I am in the web, said the spider," is followed by "I am in the painting, said the princess," and "I am in the herd, said the sheep."  One of my favorites is "I am in the shoe, said the pebble."
 In This Book comes to a close on a sweet note, as you can see below.
I can definitely imagine sitting down with a toddler and poring over the pages of In This Book. Even better, I would love to see In This Book printed in board book format so that little readers can hold it and pore over it on their own!


Source: Review Copy

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