‘Crankenstein’, ‘Are We There Yet?’ and ‘The Advetures of Beekle’, by Dan Santat

We stumbled across a fantastic author/illustrator this week, Dan Santat. 

Previously we have read ‘Crankenstein‘, which he collaborated on with Samantha Berger. A great book for helping kids understand crankiness in all it’s ‘glory’. The pictures are different to lots of other kids books. They have a darkness about them which fits the story so well. 

But this week we got two of his solo creations and we have been really impressed. 

The big boy in our house read ‘Are We There Yet?‘ first and gave a rave review:  “It’s REALLY good”. I can see why he would like it. As kids we all remember being in the car for what felt like decades. This story follows a family’s long car trip to Grandma’s house and reflects on the way time passes when things seem boring.

While the pictures are interesting enough to younger children, older kids will probably get more out of the subtlety in this book. The images are truly captivating. You will want to read it several times to appreciate the detail and artistry.

‘The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend’ won the Caldecott Medal in 2015 as the most distinguished American picture book for the year. It is a beautifully illustrated tale of an ‘unimaginary’ friend seeking out a place to belong. The creativity of the character design and the use of colour in the book really appealed to my kids – and to me. It is so great to have such wonderful books to share with your kids that you also really enjoy reading.