I Am A Story
By Dan Yaccarino
Hardcover Picture Book - Illustrations: India Ink on Vellum
Published by Harper Collins Publishers
Ages: 4-8
ISBN: 978006241065
List price: $17.99 or Free when borrowed from your local library
A story can make us laugh, it can make us cry, it can give us hope, and it can do so much more. Stories have been around as long as humans have been able to communicate. This book I Am A Story follows the concept of a story from being told around a campfire, to being drawn on cave walls, to the invention of paper, to the printing press, and to how we read and share stories today. The book tells of many ways stories are shared - as a family around a book, for an audience by an actor on a stage, or through television programs.
Stories are important to children. Through stories, children share their own ideas and views of the world. Stories give children a platform for their hopes and dreams. For our family, bedtime stories play a powerful role.They are the way my kids calm down for the night and they give me one last opportunity to connect with my kids every day. Reading together at bedtime is my favorite part of the day and a good story will be read three or four times in one night.
The bold and beautiful illustrations in I Am A Story along with the simple text kept the interest of my kids. My five-year-old had lots of questions. She wanted to know more about the different ways stories are told, about the process of creating a book, and about book banning and burning. The book kept the attention of my two-year-old too. When we were finished with the book we talked about why it was ok that people once wrote on cave walls and that it is not ok to write on the walls of our house.
Deservedly, this book was a Junior Library Guide Selection and a Chicago Public Library Best Book of 2016. This book made for a great bedtime story. I would recommend checking it out from your local library and telling your own stories.
