Books about books are like music about music. They’re an insider’s source of joy. As an ex-child who was very much a child of books, I am greatly taken with this picture book by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston, winner of the 2017 Bologna Ragazzi Award for Fiction.
I mean, look at this kid. She lives in a richly formed typographical landscape, in a world made of stories. Pure delight and fantastic imagery are the ingredients here. The hand-lettered text is simple. The book can almost be read without it. To that extent this is not writing about writing. The craft lies in the visual elements, but they give writers plenty to think about.
I love to examine the differences between books written and illustrated by a single person and those that are the product of two minds. A Child of Books is what results when both those minds happen to be visually nimble.
