童书25 Lane Smith

Lane Smith (born August 25, 1959) is an American illustrator and writer of children's books. He is the Kate Greenaway medalist (2017) known for his eclectic visuals and subject matter both humorous and earnest, such as the contemplative Grandpa Green which received a Caldecott Honor in 2012 and the outlandish Stinky Cheese Man which received a Caldecott Honor in 1992.

This book keeps you guessing what is happening. Is the plant the person the narrator is talking about or is it the little boy? Who’s telling the story? We see all these plants shaped into animals and people in a garden in fantastic ways. It seems the garden is alive and it has all these stories to tell. I don’t want to spoil the ending as it is rather clever the way it gets the point across.

Happiness is often unexpected and sometimes short-lived, but we all find our perfect day in our own way. Love the whorls, swirls, and lines in the illustrations in this short and sweet tale.

The book starts off with a monkey reading a book when suddenly; a donkey comes by and asks the monkey what he has in his hands. The monkey tells the donkey that he is reading a book. But the donkey mistakes the book for a computer and keeps on asking the monkey throughout this story about whether or not the book can text, tweet, scroll or have wi-fi, while the monkey constantly tells the donkey that the book does not have all that.

This is about a self-conscious giraffe and his long neck, which is the incredible thing I love about giraffe’s and their spots. He is jealous of all the different necks around him.