What Would You Do in a Book About You?

by Jean Reidy, Joey Chou (Illustrator)

Overview

For fans of Oh, The Places You’ll Go! and The Wonderful Things You Will Be, What Would You Do in a Book About You? will empower kids to reach for their dreams. From Zolotow Honor award-winning author Jean Reidy (Truman) and illustrated by Joey Chou, this lyrical picture book has pitch-perfect rhythm and rhyme and makes for a great read-aloud.

No dream is too big or too small in this heartwarming, heart-building book about you!

So, stop. Dream. Think it through. And remember, there is so much you can do. Here is an exuberant book that asks what wonderful, endless possibilities your story and your future might hold, making YOU the author of your own powerful tale.

Perfect for a graduation, a new baby, a birthday, or any milestone in a child’s or adult’s life, this book celebrates everything you are capable of doing and becoming. For after all, the best stories are the ones that you will write . . . 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780063041509
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	04/06/2021
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,152,822
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Jean Reidy’s bestselling and award-winning picture books have earned their spots as favorites among readers and listeners of all ages and from all over the world. She loves writing, but she loves chatting with readers—and hearing their stories—even more. That’s why she’s a frequent presenter at schools and storytimes across the country. Jean writes from her home in Chicago, where she lives just a short walk from her neighborhood library . . . which she visits nearly every day. To learn more about Jean and her books, please visit www.jeanreidy.com.

Joey Chou was born in Taiwan and grew up in Southern California. After graduating from Art Center College of Design with an illustration degree, he has been working as a Visual Development Artist on feature and TV animations for the past 10 years. Joey is currently working at Sony Picture Animation. He has worked on many productions, including The Emoji Movie, Hotel Transylvania 2, Cloudy with A Chance of Meatballs 2, Surf's Up 2, Kung Fu Panda: Legend of Awesomeness, and more.  Prior to working for Sony, Joey has worked with other studios including Disney, Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, Paramount, Sony, and Netflix.

When not working in the animation world, Joey has illustrated many books for children, including Disney's It's a Small World, several Little Golden Books for Random House (I'm a Ballerina, I'm a Unicorn, I'm a Narwhal, and I'm a Dragon), Monster & Sons with Chronicle, his own 'Press and Play' novelty series for Nosy Crow, and he is currently developing a new "Teeny Tiny" series with Scholastic. 

Editorial Reviews

05/10/2021

With whimsical, Seussian rhymes, Reidy employs a second-person perspective, inviting readers to consider the myriad lives they might access through imagination and books. Offering options from a variety of genres, including fantasy and speculative fiction, Reidy traces multiple paths—including, perhaps confusingly,“a book about you in a book about YOU.” Digital art by Chou offers layered geometric art against bright kaleidoscopic backgrounds, with Mary Blair–inflected figures of varying abilities, hair textures, and skin tones appear as hot air balloon riders, wizards, mermaids, and more. Concluding by asking readers to consider the richness of their possible futures (“If your life were a book/ with pictures and pages,/ what would you do/ to be read through the ages?”), this encouraging read will find itself at home among gifty books handed to milestone-approaching kids. Ages 4–8. (Apr.)

Publishers Weekly

When you use your imagination and tell your own stories, there are endless possibilities for magic, mayhem, fun, and learning. The layered, geometric illustrations burst with life and movement. The text has a call-and-response feel that lends itself to reading out loud. 
— Kirkus Reviews

"Featuring upbeat rhymes and busy, cheerful animated art, this peppy, motivational read invites kids to imagine what they could do or be, during playtime and beyond." — Booklist

"... by asking readers to consider the richness of their possible futures . . . this encouraging read will find itself at home among gifty books handed to milestone-approaching kids." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

"Featuring upbeat rhymes and busy, cheerful animated art, this peppy, motivational read invites kids to imagine what they could do or be, during playtime and beyond."

Booklist

"Featuring upbeat rhymes and busy, cheerful animated art, this peppy, motivational read invites kids to imagine what they could do or be, during playtime and beyond."

Booklist

2021-03-02
If someone wrote a book about you, what would happen in it?

Who would you be? What would you do? This rhyming, cheerily illustrated picture book offers some possible answers. You might, for example, travel on a broomstick or find yourself a magic wand. You might travel to outer space or the Arctic, or you may stay closer to home. You might do incredible, important things like rescuing royalty or giving huge speeches or tearing down walls. You might heal the world by curing polar bears of their blues or simply apologizing for something you did wrong. You might go on wild adventures that give you the opportunity to interact with walruses, dinosaurs, emus, yaks, and tea-sipping frogs. When you use your imagination and tell your own stories, there are endless possibilities for magic, mayhem, fun, and learning. The layered, geometric illustrations include cartoon characters with various skin tones inhabiting colorful, detailed worlds that burst with life and movement. The text has a call-and-response feel that lends itself to reading out loud. Some of the pages reference possible choices that could occur both in dreams and in real life, such as doing small kindnesses or choosing your own path. At times, however, the words feel repetitive, with, perhaps, scenarios added to fill out the page count rather than because they were strictly necessary. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at 56.3% of actual size.)

This quirky picture book is sweet but overlong. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews