Your Library

Picture Book of the Week

Each week (or perhaps fortnight) a staff member recommends one of their all time favourite picture books to the rest of the staff, and we’ve decided to share these ‘reader’s advisory’ recommendations with you.

They may be older classics, or brand new additions to the collection, and we hope you enjoy our choices. 

Picture Book of the Week

It's useful to have a duck by Isol

"Why on earth is it useful to have a duck? In a series of accordioned spreads on yellow board, a little boy reveals the answers, accompanied by swift line sketches that illustrate them: "I use him for a hat. / He can be a whistle or a straw" (here the duck and boy are depicted beak-to-lips). The work would be no more than a quaint curiosity were it not for the verso, on blue board, which is titled It's Useful to Have a Boy, in which the identical images receive a very different gloss in the duck's voice: "I use his head to see the view / and he gives me kisses." Bands of yellow or blue line each fold to contrast with the primary background color and to unify the whole. Do not be deceived by the simple-looking board format: This is not for babies. Rather, it challenges children who have accepted the initial premise with developmentally appropriate narcissism to regard the world from the opposite perspective. Gently mind-bending, this playful Mexican import, packaged in a slipcase, will get readers thinking. (Novelty. 3-7)" ... editorial review from Kirkus Reviews

Previous Picture Book of the Week

Adelaide : the flying kangaroo by Tomi Ungerer

Tomi Ungerer (b. 1931) is one of the world’s most famous and best loved children’s authors. He is an illustrator, writer, designer, toy-collector and archivist of human absurdity, whose work spans storybooks, poster designs, political campaigns and film.

A recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen award for illustration, he divides his time between Ireland and Strasbourg, France, where the Musee Tomi Ungerer, a museum devoted exclusively to his work, opened in 2007.

You can find older Picture Book of the Week reviews here.