The Umbrella by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert

Where can an umbrella take you? If you're like this little dog, it can take you on an incredible journey: past giraffes and elephants, over forests and rain forests and oceans, north, south, east and west. Where can The Umbrella take you? On an international picture book experience that doesn't come around very often.

Wordless books are wonderful for a number of reasons, especially because children and families can make up their own narratives. I love how the pictures in The Umbrella tell a story without filling in all the dots. There are perfect opportunities for children to answer 'how did...?' or 'what did...?' This book is perfect for sparking the imagination. The one picture I was uneasy about, showing a hut-living tribe throwing wooden spears at the dog/the umbrella, was thankfully shown at a distance. I don't think that this picture ruins the overall effect, but I wonder if it will make the book seem dated rather than timeless. Overall, though, this is a very strong book that deserves to be discovered by readers of all ages.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Like People by Ingrid and Dieter Schubert
The Thingamabob by Il Sung Na
The Umbrella by Jan Brett
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Wave by Suzy Lee

Chicken and Cat Clean Up by Sara Varon

Chicken and Cat have started a housecleaning service. Chicken is sure that it's going to be a success. But Cat isn't as good at cleaning up as Chicken is...in fact, all it seems Cat can do is make messes! Chicken isn't happy, Cat isn't happy, and their customers aren't happy. Things are looking bad for Cat...but then something happens, and it's up to Cat to save the day! This is a fun, clever book that has a wide appeal. Pre-readers will enjoy the bright, colourful, comic pictures, and readers will enjoy the jokes details in the background writing.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Chicken and Cat by Sara Varon
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
Wave by Suzy Lee
The Boys by Jeff Newman
Flotsam by David Wiesner

Robot Dreams by Sara Varon

Dog and Robot have been best friends ever since Dog sent away for a ‘build your own robot’ kit. They love doing things together: going to the library, watching movies, going on trips. One day they take a trip to a dog-friendly beach. They have a blast playing in the water and napping on their towels. It’s a perfect day – but when Robot wakes up, he can’t move! Dog tries everything he can, but there’s no way he can get Robot home. As it turns from day into night, Dog reluctantly leaves Robot behind. Alone at the beach, Robot dreams of the future – and what could have been. Will Dog and Robot ever be reunited?

I was thoroughly surprised by this book. While I tried to guess what would happen next, it kept moving in directions that were completely unexpected. The panels that show Dog leaving Robot on the beach were incredibly sad and, despite the bright colours and style, very dark. Over the course of the next year, terrible things kept happening to both of them. But good things happened, too, even while they were apart. This might be a spoiler, but I ultimately found this book to be bittersweet. I never thought that I would describe a book about an anthropomorphized dog and his robot friend as being realistic, but I loved how things ended in this book – not too neat, but done in a satisfying way. I have read and loved Chicken and Cat and Chicken and Cat Clean Up, but they didn’t prepare me for just how much I would enjoy Robot Dreams.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Chicken and Cat by Sara Varon
Chicken and Cat Clean Up by Sara Varon
The Rabbi’s Cat by Joann Sfar
Fred and Pete at the Beach by Cynthia Nugent

Chicken and Cat by Sara Varon

Cat has come to visit Chicken in the city, and they're both pretty excited about it. But Cat can only see the bad parts of the city: the mice, the crime, the dirt. Chicken really wants Cat to feel at home - but how?

This is such a fun book. I love the humour, like Chicken and Cat's bathing suits, the monkey in the row boat, and all of the details in the background. I could very well be reading too much into this, but when reading this, did anyone else think that Chicken and Cat are moving in together - like a couple? The jacket copy only refers to it as a visit, but I definitely got a feel of something more permanent, which kind of makes the resolution of the story even sweeter.


Find it at Indiebound.

Read it with:
Robot Dreams by Sara Varon
Chicken and Cat Clean Up by Sara Varon
Town Mouse, Country Mouse by Jan Brett
The Curious Garden by Peter Brown
The Boys by Jeff Newman

The Boys by Jeff Newman

This little boy really wants to play baseball, but he’s new in town and too shy to ask the other kids to play. Instead, he ends up on a nearby bench populated by a number of old men. As the days pass, the boy tries to fit in with this new crowd, and they decide to show him how to have a good time.

I loved the illustrations in this nearly-wordless picture book – they looked like they had just been taken out of a Pixar movie, and the wit and charm would easily fit right in alongside Pixar movies like Up!. Newman can do so much with just pictures, and this is a great book to share with people who’ve enjoyed other wordless books like The Lion and the Mouse, Flotsam, Tuesday, or Wave.

Find it at IndieBound.

Read it with:
Flotsam by David Weisner
Wave by Suzy Lee
The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney
Tuesday by David Weisner
Let's Do Nothing! by Tony Fusile