books fall open, we fall in…a list of five books starring books!

Charlie Cook’s Favorite Book, by Julia Donaldson, illustrated by Alex Scheffler
first published in the U.S. in 2006 by Dial Books for Young Readers

Charlie Cook loves to curl up in an arm chair with his favorite book. It’s about a pirate on a tropical island. Happily, the pirate finds a treasure chest which holds a book…

…about a little girl named Goldilocks. Some bears find her lying in bed, reading a book…

…about a brave knight and a dragon who love jokes, which they read from a book…

And so the story unfolds.  Every turn of the page we open a new book, each with its own clever title, illustrations, torn bits, smudges, and ingenuous visual references tying the pieces together — until we circle all the way back to Charlie.

Look closely to find the clever touches Scheffler has packed into the pictures.  Upbeat, rhythmic rhyming text. I love this book! It’ll tickle the fancy of anyone ages 4 or 5 and up.

Open This Little Book, by Jesse Klausmeier, illustrated by Suzy Lee
published in 2013 by Chronicle Books

Open the cover of this book, and you’ll find a smaller purple book inside. Open it, and there’s a Little Red Book about a ladybug who opens an even smaller Little Green Book starring a frog…

Such a pleasure to open up these tinier and tinier books until you reach the smallest of allest, and there’s a story in that wee blue book. And then everything reverses.

Great fun. It reminds me a bit of this vintage Bruno Munari title. Ages 3 and up.

Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Book? written and illustrated by Lauren Child
published in 2002 by Hyperion Books for Children

Herb loves stories. Especially the pictures.  Loves ’em so much he carts his books everywhere and gets the pages quite sticky. Also, he may be guilty of the odd scribble, snip, and rub-out with an eraser.

When he somehow falls into an old fairy tale book which he has, ahem…re-decorated a bit…Herb finds plenty of mayhem and some very annoyed characters. His actions have had consequences in their world. Prince Charming’s mother is particularly perturbed. And it’s all Herb’s fault. How can he escape the wrath of the queen, and this bizarre fairy-tale world?

Lauren Child’s books are like a roller coaster ride through the Fun House. Upside down and helter skelter we go through this funny, energized adventure. Good humor and a spark for the imaginations of kids ages 5 and up!

The Snatchabook, by Helen Docherty and Thomas Docherty
published in 2013 by Sourcebooks Jabberwocky

With books offering up such magic, it’s little wonder that story-thievery might be a problem!

Enter a world of ancient trees with curious, round windows, teeny, sheltered doorways, and sprawling roots laced with cozy burrows. In every wee house, some furry or feathered youngster is being tucked into bed and best of all — having stories.

Something strange is afoot, though. The storybooks are disappearing! Who — or what! — is snatching them? And why?

This woodsy neighborhood will charm the socks off of you with its booksnatching mystery and blissful solution.  I love the cool blue-black night contrasting with the toasty-warm hidey holes, and every miniature bedstead and quilt, hedgehog and bunny. The gently rhyming text  will entrance listeners ages 3 and up. Don’t miss this!

Again!, written and illustrated by Emily Gravett
published in 2011 by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

Book-snatching is not the only dire consequence of stories that are too, too good to miss.
Bed-time temper tantrums may also result.

This little dragon is almost ready for bed, but of course — stories first. She’s got her favorite book which Mom pleasantly reads. Then Little Dragon asks The Dreaded Question: “Again?”

Hmm. Mom is clearly not thrilled, but she does read it again. At least, a very-slightly abridged version. On and on it goes until…

Well…every parent reaches her limit. But when Mama Dragon finally conks out, Little Dragon throws a dragon-sized tantrum! You will not believe what she does to this book!

Utterly Surprising and Shocking! And so funny. Do not miss the end papers, and if you check this out of the library, be sure to peek at that back cover. A roaring good time for ages 3 and up.