Book picks similar to
If I Were a Book by José Jorge Letria


picture-books
favorites
books-about-books
children

Nocturne


Isol - 2011
    Just choose a dream from among the pictures and descriptions in the book, and then turn off the light to see a surprising glow-in-the-dark image. Included are dreams such as the dream of going far away, the boring book dream, the dream of the cat who smelled the tuna casserole, and even the drawn dream (which children can create themselves).Once again Isol's extraordinary creativity and humor have produced a truly wonderful, very original book.

Re-Zoom


Istvan Banyai - 1995
    Zoom from an Egyptian pyramid to an exotic jungle to a sandy beach. But if you think you know where you are, guess again. For in Istvan Banyai's mysterious landscapes of pictures within pictures, nothing is ever as it seems.

The Sign of the Seahorse


Graeme Base - 1992
    Beginning at the Seahorse Cafe, social hub of the Old Reef, this novel takes the reader on a journey, from the doomed coral gardens of Reeftown, to a wreck and an underwater junkyard, across the expanse of the Withered Plain.

Go the F**k to Sleep


Adam Mansbach - 2011
    You know where you can go? The f**k to sleep.”Go the Fuck to Sleep is a book for parents who live in the real world, where a few snoozing kitties and cutesy rhymes don’t always send a toddler sailing blissfully off to dreamland. Profane, affectionate, and radically honest, it captures the familiar—and unspoken—tribulations of putting your little angel down for the night. Read by a host of celebrities, from Samuel L. Jackson to Jennifer Garner, this subversively funny bestselling storybook will not actually put your kids to sleep, but it will leave you laughing so hard you won’t care.

The Iridescence of Birds: A Book About Henri Matisse


Patricia MacLachlan - 2014
    If you were a boy named Henri Matisse who lived in a dreary town in northern France, what would your life be like? Would it be full of color and art? Full of lines and dancing figures?Find out in this beautiful, unusual picture book about one of the world's most famous and influential artists by acclaimed author and Newbery Medal-winning Patricia MacLachlan and innovative illustrator Hadley Hooper.A Neal Porter Book

The I Wonder Bookstore


Shinsuke Yoshitake - 2017
    At The I Wonder Bookstore, customers come in and ask the owner countless variations on its namesake question ("I wonder if you have any books about...") and he is happy to fill their requests in enchanting ways. In these pages readers will discover books that grow on trees, books designed to be read by two (or more) people at once, books that can only be read by moonlight, bookstore weddings, an underwater library, a boot camp for charismatic bookstore attendants, and many more wonders that celebrate the transporting magic of reading in a timeless and irresistible way.

Before After


Anne-Margot Ramstein - 2013
    But in this book, it's also true that a cow can result in both a bottle of milk and a painting of a cow, and an ape in a jungle may become an urban King Kong. Just as day turns into night and back again, a many-tiered cake is both created and eaten down to a single piece. Each spread or sequence of spreads explores a before and after.

The Sound of Silence


Katrina Goldsaito - 2016
    The musician answers, "The most beautiful sound is the sound of ma, of silence."But Yoshio lives in Tokyo, Japan: a giant, noisy, busy city. He hears shoes squishing through puddles, trains whooshing, cars beeping, and families laughing. Tokyo is like a symphony hall!Where is silence?Join Yoshio on his journey through the hustle and bustle of the city to find the most beautiful sound of all.

Grandpa's Stories


Joseph Coelho - 2018
    She remembers the fields and parks they explored in the springtime and the old toys they fixed up in the summer. She remembers the handmade gifts they exchanged in the fall and the stories Grandpa told by the fi re each winter. But this year, the girl must say good-bye to Grandpa. In the face of her grief, she is determined to find a way to honor him. She decides to record her Grandpa stories in the notebook he made for her and carry Grandpa with her as she grows. An honest and relatable depiction of loss, Grandpa’s Stories celebrates life and the ways in which love lives on.

The Call of the Swamp


Davide Calì - 2017
    It doesn't matter that he has scales and gills, or that his parents found him in a swamp when he was just a baby. But one day Boris catches the scent of his old home, and suddenly he's not quite sure where he belongs. He journeys to the swamp, filled with questions, and eventually discovers the only answer he needs. From the creators of The Queen of the Frogs comes an enchanting, nuanced story about adoption and family.

Any Questions?


Marie-Louise Gay - 2014
    Marie-Louise Gay’s new picture book provides them with some delightfully inspiring answers through a fictional encounter between an author and some very curious children — together they collaborate on writing and illustrating a story. Marie-Louise Gay has scribbled, sketched, scrawled, doodled, penciled, collaged, and painted the words and pictures of a story-within-a-story that show how brilliant ideas creep up on you when you least expect it and how words sometimes float out of nowhere, asking to be written. Any Questions? presents a world inhabited by lost polar bears, soaring pterodactyls, talking trees, and spotted snails, with cameo appearances by some of the author's favorite characters — a world where kids become part of the story and let their imaginations run wild, becoming inspired to create tales of their own. At the end of the book, she provides answers to many of the questions children have asked her over the years, such as "Are you Stella?," "How did you learn to draw?," "Can your cat fly?," and "How many books do you make in one day?"

The Day I Became a Bird


Ingrid Chabbert - 2015
    Sylvia sits in front of him at school, and he's so in love with her, she's all he can see. But sadly, Sylvia doesn't see him. In fact, it seems the only thing Sylvia has eyes for is birds. “There are birds on her pants and dresses. She wears bird barrettes in her hair. She draws birds on her notebooks and folders. And when she speaks, her voice sounds like birdsong.” So in a bold attempt to get Sylvia's attention, the boy decides to go to school dressed up as a bird. He endures the stares and giggles of his classmates, and a great deal of discomfort, but the boy doesn't care. Because when it comes to love, sometimes you have no choice but to follow your heart and spread your wings.In this sweetly funny picture book, Ingrid Chabbert perfectly captures the emotional essence of a child's first love. The boy's voice as narrator is realistic and endearing as he engagingly and honestly shares the wonder of his experience. With imagination and gentle humor, Guridi uses spare lines in mostly black and white drawings to tenderly express the poignant heart of the story. This book offers a terrific exploration of young children's self-discovery and self-expression, as well as the early development of social skills. It makes a wonderful read-aloud to launch a classroom discussion about relationships and feelings.

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics


Norton Juster - 1963
    But the dot, though perfect in every way, only had eyes for a wild and unkempt squiggle. All of the line's romantic dreams were in vain, until he discovered...angles! Now, with newfound self-expression, he can be anything he wants to be--a square, a triangle, a parallelogram....And that's just the beginning!First published in 1963 and made into an Academy Award-winning animated short film, here is a supremely witty love story with a twist that reveals profound truths about relationships--both human and mathematical--sure to tickle lovers of all ages.

Big Panda & Tiny Dragon - Special Edition


James Norbury - 2020
    Special Edition:The special edition is signed by James, and includes a colour bookplate on the inside cover with the edition number as well as a dediction or note inside the book.

What Do You Do with an Idea?


Kobi Yamada - 2014
    As the child's confidence grows, so does the idea itself. And then, one day, something amazing happens. This is a story for anyone, at any age, who's ever had an idea that seemed a little too big, too odd, too difficult. It's a story to inspire you to welcome that idea, to give it some space to grow, and to see what happens next. Because your idea isn't going anywhere. In fact, it's just getting started.