Book Title: The Wordy Book

Author: Julie Paschkis

Illustrations: Julie Paschkis

Publisher & Year: Enchanted Lion Books, 2021

Intended Age: 5-10 years

Topic/Themes: Words, Questions, Graphic Design

Opening Lines: “What does a word think about?”

Synopsis: THE WORDY BOOK is a gorgeously surreal intertwining of words and images. Each breathtaking two-page spread asks a question and then explores a response.

What I love about this book: It is sheer delight that this book exists. It is my new favorite book. The illustrations and color palette are extraordinary!

One of the many spreads that touched me deeply is the (below), “Is the word in the world or is the world in the word?” spread.  One of my great joys as a reading specialist is sharing the stories within words so this page deeply resonated. Also, the more time you spend looking at each page, the more you discover. This book makes me SO HAPPY!!!! Just look at this amazing spread:

                                                 Words and Images ©Julie Paschkis

Now, imagine what it would add to your life to be able to view 15 more of these spreads, each one a treasure, (plus the cover and endpapers)?!!!!

On one spread, “How deep is the deep blue sea?,” a boy is rowing a boat called, “The Pencil,” with a pencil called, “The Dory,” surrounded by a sea of luscious words. I am so in love with the metaphor and the rendering of that pencil paddling through a sea of words that I am beside myself with gratitude for this incredible writer and artist, Julie Paschkis.

This book is a treasure that I will savor over and over again.

Activities/Resources: 

Before Reading: Show students the cover and ask them what they see, think, and wonder about this book.

Reading: Pose the question on each two-page spread to the group and chart their responses before showing them the illustration. Discuss with students what they see, think, and wonder about each image.

Art/Writing: Using this book as a mentor text and the student-dictated “See,Think, Wonder” charts as inspiration, students can create their own answers to a question with words and images.

Using Julie Paschkis’ incredible collection of coloring pages for inspiration, have students select a page and create a story inspired by Julie’s incredible images. Post the story and colored-in page side-by-side on oversized construction paper.

Here is a link to Julie Paschkis’ free coloring pages: https://juliepaschkis.com/coloring-pages/

This review is part of PPBF (Perfect Picture Book Friday) where bloggers share great picture books. Organized and curated by author Susanna Leonard Hill, she keeps an ever-growing list of Perfect Picture Books. #PPBF

I purchased this book after an amazing kidlit blogger, Jilanne Hoffman, wrote a mesmerizing review for WHAT IS A RIVER that introduced me to the Enchanted Lion Books imprint. As I was perusing their catalog, I discovered THE WORDY BOOK.

Thanks for stopping by! Have you read this book? Let me know in the comments.

Reflections on this Book:

After reading THE WORDY BOOK, I was inspired to combine text and images in a way that starts a conversation with the viewer and encourages them to ask questions, conduct word investigations, and/or create their own stories. Here I created a text that I hope will inspire students to investigate the word, “quest.”

What conversations would you like to start with the world?