Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd ; Hard Cover, Picture Book ; Not Recommended

The Story of a Book by Joy McCullough

This vibrantly illustrated book is a love letter to books and reading. It talks about the magic of books, magic that is, “…sweeter when you share it. More powerful when you choose the book yourself.” Beyond those powerful words, it seems to me that the book misses its mark.

Sadly, the book fails to make a distinction between owned books and borrowed books. The early illustrations clearly place the action in a library. Then there is a spread about books being worn out by being chewed on, slept on, spilled on. It depicts the pages of worn books being used for art projects. Because none of these behaviors are appropriate with books borrowed from a library, I do not recommend this book for a school library.