Is a Book a Box for Words?

Harriet Ziefert is a former elementary school teacher from New Jersey. A graduate of Smith College, she also holds an MA in education from NYU. She is the bestselling author of more than 250 children’s books and has developed easy-to-read series for several major publishing houses. As founder of Blue Apple Books, she has published over 500 titles, many of which have become bestselling modern classics. Harriet Ziefert continues to create and publish books from her home in Great Barrington, Massachusetts. Mercè Galí is an illustrator from Barcelona. She grew up surrounded by stories in her parents’ bookstore and studied illustration and fine arts at the University of Barcelona, specializing in engraving. She mainly illustrates children’s books for a number of publishing houses in various countries. Her books have been recognized at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair and her project, Petit Indi, was a finalist in the Silent Book competition. Mercè Galí lives and works in Barcelona, Spain.

An intriguing title sparks a host of connections and associations .. . Ziefert’s book evokes Mary Ann Hoberman and Betty Fraser’s classic A House Is a House for Me. Halfway through, the text switches from assertions to interrogatives (the preferred sentence form for many Ziefert books). . . the author offers plenty of food for thought; young dreamers will have plenty to mull. The inventive book art combines photo elements with neon color and a lively black linework that changes in thickness for pleasing variety. A bright pink bear with an elongated snout and tiny toes appears in several illustrations; the few human figures are amusingly cartoonish and vary in skin tone. Eye-catching inspiration to encourage out-of-the-box thinking.(Picture book. 5-8)