Status
Available
Call number
Description
"Alice can go anywhere in the magical pages of her favorite book. So when it flaps its pages and invites her in, she is swept away to a world of wonder and adventure. But at the end of her imaginative journey, she yearns for the place she loves best of all."--
Genres
Collection
Publication
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (2023), 40 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member blbooks
First sentence: Alice was tired of heavy sweaters and thick socks and staying inside with nothing to do. "I wish I were someplace that wasn't so frozen and gray!" she grumbled to her mother. She began to stomp away, but something flapped nearby. It was the pages of a book. Curious, Alice began to
Premise/plot: Alice, our protagonist, spends the afternoon [or morning, or day] IN a book--literally and figuratively. The illustrations show her stepping right into a book and truly LIVING and EXPERIENCING the action/story of the book[s]. She goes from story to story meeting all sorts of characters--mainly animals, if not exclusively animals. Her landscape is ever-changing.
My thoughts: I wanted to love this one. I did. I love, love, love books about books. I didn't quite love this one despite me wanting to absolutely do so. I think that is mainly all on me. It is not at all fair to judge a book based on your expectations, what you want the book to be. But the book I desperately wanted this one to be would have Alice stepping into familiar books and stories--meeting characters, being thrown into stories. Instead, it was almost let's travel the globe and learn about different habitats and animals. Yet it wasn't even quite that. [Not nonfiction-y enough to be an informative book]. The illustrations were bright, bold, colorful.
An artistic choice that I personally didn't love was Alice's ever-changing dress. She starts off with a dress imprinted with words. But her dress blends into EVERY landscape. It changes with each story. At first glance--at least my first glance--it looks like arms, legs, head and shoulders--just floating disconnected. Again, that could be 100% just me. Yes, upon a double-take I saw she was still wearing a block-y dress. But it was distracting/disconcerting to me. Again a nitpicky thing. I probably am the only reader who will feel this way.
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read.Premise/plot: Alice, our protagonist, spends the afternoon [or morning, or day] IN a book--literally and figuratively. The illustrations show her stepping right into a book and truly LIVING and EXPERIENCING the action/story of the book[s]. She goes from story to story meeting all sorts of characters--mainly animals, if not exclusively animals. Her landscape is ever-changing.
My thoughts: I wanted to love this one. I did. I love, love, love books about books. I didn't quite love this one despite me wanting to absolutely do so. I think that is mainly all on me. It is not at all fair to judge a book based on your expectations, what you want the book to be. But the book I desperately wanted this one to be would have Alice stepping into familiar books and stories--meeting characters, being thrown into stories. Instead, it was almost let's travel the globe and learn about different habitats and animals. Yet it wasn't even quite that. [Not nonfiction-y enough to be an informative book]. The illustrations were bright, bold, colorful.
An artistic choice that I personally didn't love was Alice's ever-changing dress. She starts off with a dress imprinted with words. But her dress blends into EVERY landscape. It changes with each story. At first glance--at least my first glance--it looks like arms, legs, head and shoulders--just floating disconnected. Again, that could be 100% just me. Yes, upon a double-take I saw she was still wearing a block-y dress. But it was distracting/disconcerting to me. Again a nitpicky thing. I probably am the only reader who will feel this way.
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LibraryThing member Lisa2013
I’m a sucker for books about books and this one is wonderful. I saw the end coming a mile away (and some children will also) but that didn’t diminish the delight I felt in reading & viewing it.
The story is great and book lovers of all ages will understand it.
The illustrations are beautiful and
I appreciated how this story is an affirmation about the power of books & reading and also shows the support and acceptance present in a loving family.
I have enjoyed other books by this illustrator and this author. They team up well for this book.
4-1/2 stars
The story is great and book lovers of all ages will understand it.
The illustrations are beautiful and
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colorful. I laughed when I saw the image of the girl’s dress with text on it and then loved how her clothing (or lack of clothing) changed as the story setting changed. Clever and creative! I loved the facial expressions of Alice and of her parents, especially on the last page.I appreciated how this story is an affirmation about the power of books & reading and also shows the support and acceptance present in a loving family.
I have enjoyed other books by this illustrator and this author. They team up well for this book.
4-1/2 stars
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LibraryThing member sweetiegherkin
One cold and blustery day, Alice wishes to be somewhere else that is warm and more exciting. To her surprise, the pages of a book start calling her to just such a place and she gets to walk right into it! With each turn of the page, Alice goes on a new adventure.
This homage to the well-known story
The illustrations are eye-catching and beautiful, with tons of small details to pore over with each re-reading of this book. A particularly fun exercise for young (and old) readers is to find the white rabbit hidden on each page spread as he is sometimes sneakier than you would think!
This homage to the well-known story
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of Alice in Wonderland is perfectly done. I love books that have a meta aspect to them and talk about the journeys that reading can take you on – many more locales than you might actually get to visit in real life.The illustrations are eye-catching and beautiful, with tons of small details to pore over with each re-reading of this book. A particularly fun exercise for young (and old) readers is to find the white rabbit hidden on each page spread as he is sometimes sneakier than you would think!
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LibraryThing member Jennifer_Long
A great story about that warning, "Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it," drawn in Grace Lin's beautiful illustrative style. It's a story about a girl, Alice, who wishes for a place and can step into the pages of a book of that location. At first, it bugged me that the main
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character's dress was the same color as the background. I thought it looked like a bad green screen effect, but once I realized that's how she represented that she was part of the place, I let it go. Along the way, she learns that everything is not as perfect as she imagines and in the end, she wishes for a place where she isn't alone that ends up being her home. Just lovely. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
40 p.; 12.1 inches
ISBN
0316541079 / 9780316541077
Other editions
Once Upon a Book by Grace Lin (Hardcover)
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