Once Upon a Book

by Grace Lin, Kate Messner

Overview

A Kirkus Best Picture Book of 2023!
A Smithsonian Magazine Best Kids Books of 2023!

From Caldecott and Newbery Honoree Grace Lin and bestselling author Kate Messner comes a modern folktale about the joy of reading.

Once upon a time, there was a girl. She went to a place alive with colors, where even the morning dew was warm. 

Alice loves to imagine herself in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure, riding camels in the desert, swimming under the sea with colorful fish, floating in outer space, and more! But when her imaginative journey comes to an end, she yearns for the place she loves best of all.

Paired with vibrant illustrations, this lyrical, expressive story invites the reader to savor each page and indulge in the power of imagination.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316541077
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	02/07/2023
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	59,361
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 11.80(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Grace Lin is the recipient of the Children's Literature Legacy Award and is the bestselling author and illustrator of over thirty books, including A Big Mooncake for Little Star (a Caldecott Honor), A Big Bed for Little Snow, Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (a Newbery Honor), The Year of the Dog, and the Ling & Ting series. Grace is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and lives in Massachusetts. 

Kate Messner is a New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty books for young readers. Kate's award-winning titles include picture books like Over and Under the Snow and The Brilliant Deep; novels like Breakout and Chirp; engaging nonfiction like The Next President and the History Smashers series; the Ranger in Time adventures; and the Fergus and Zeke easy readers. Kate lives on Lake Champlain and invites you to visit her at www.katemessner.com
 

Editorial Reviews

11/21/2022

In this meta collaboration by Lin (A Big Mooncake for Little Star) and Messner (Only the Best), immersive gouache spreads convey the way books can carry readers into new worlds. Stranded inside by winter weather, Alice, who wears pink glasses, rummages through a drawer for a favorite sleeveless dress—it’s covered with print words—then spies a book on the floor and, curious, begins to read. “Once upon a time, there was a girl... She went to a place alive with colors, where even the morning dew was warm.” A flamingo and other tropical birds break the book’s fourth wall to beckon Alice into its pages, and she climbs right in. Now tiny amid riotous tropical growth in a dress that takes on the green of the page’s background, she’s seen perched on a tree limb, part of a brilliant tapestry of forest birdlife. As the pages turn, Alice, tiring of each setting’s environs, travels by book with a rabbit companion. From desert to ocean to sky to the black void of space, her dress blends magically and invisibly into each background, until a new desire—companionship—sees her turning home to a celebratory meal. It’s a warm, Sendakian view of books’ cinematic and transportive powers that ends with a “place of coziness and warmth.” Context cues suggest Chinese or Taiwanese heritage for Alice’s family. Ages 4–8. Agents: (for Messner) Jennifer Laughran, Andrea Brown Literary Agency; (for Lin) Rebecca Sherman, Writers House. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

* "Lin and Messner's spectacular collaboration celebrates books and reading....A spellbinding ode to imagination and the transformative wonder of stories."—Kirkus, starred review

*“A thrilling journey of the imagination….Lin’s lush full-bleed spreads invite readers to take the journey with Alice.”—Horn Book, starred review

“This engrossing, wonderfully imaginative meta-adventure follows a girl bored at home in the middle of winter as she reads and also explores the pages of a book... a must-read for anyone in search of exceptional picture books.”—The Miami Herald

From the Publisher

★ 03/17/2023

PreS-Gr 2—In this vibrant celebration of reading, young Alice is tired of being cooped up at home on a dreary winter day and finds herself swept into the pages of a storybook for a grand adventure. The book takes her from a lush tropical rainforest to a deep sea dive to an expansive moonlit sky. Though each setting is wondrously tantalizing, none is exactly right, and Alice ends up back home with her parents just in time for a cozy dinner. Lin and Messner's inspired collaboration pays homage to classic children's literature with visual references to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and narrative themes evoking Where the Wild Things Are while simultaneously delivering an experience that is fresh and new. Richly detailed illustrations play with perspective and offer clever recurring motifs to delight readers each time they revisit the story. Alice's journey into and out of a book captures the very essence of what it means to be a reader, reveling in the thrill of exploration, the power of imagination, and the comforting familiarity of home. This title shines as a positive representation of Asian American culture: Alice and her parents are depicted as Asian American, and their home decor incorporates Asian folklore and traditions such as the moon rabbit and a Lunar New Year decoration on the front door. VERDICT A first purchase for picture book collections, this title will be a hit at story hours and for and classroom read-alouds, as well as a treasure for book lovers of all ages.—Allison Tran

School Library Journal

★ 2022-10-27
Fall into a story.

It’s a dreary, wintry day, and Alice is tired of it and of being inside. But a book catches her attention. “Once upon a time, there was a girl,” it reads. The characters invite her in: “Turn the page and come in….” And in Alice goes, traveling through worlds before eventually returning home. Lin and Messner’s spectacular collaboration celebrates books and reading. Repeated refrains and elements in plot structure make for a rhythmic read-aloud that builds deftly to a heartwarming conclusion. Lin’s signature illustrations, done in gouache, are filled with detail. Full-bleed, double-page spreads as well as close-up, overhead illustrations of the book held by Alice’s hands will immerse readers in the storytelling alongside the protagonist. Lin plays with style to signal the narrative progression. Alice wears a dress made of text-filled book pages, signaling that she’s a child of stories, that transforms into the background of each place she becomes a part of—from the green of jungles and the tan of deserts to the blue, gray, and black of the sky. To similar effect, when Alice turns the page and learns about a new place, the setting is flatter in dimension and simpler, but when she enters it, textures, light, shadows, and more flourish. Details in decor cue Alice and her family as being of Chinese or Taiwanese heritage. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

A spellbinding ode to imagination and the transformative wonder of stories. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews