Have you ever wondered about all the stories a library book holds? Not the stories inside the book, but stories of the physical book itself. Who else has read it? Where has it been? What kinds of adventures has it had?
This picture book answers some of those questions. We learn all about the journey of a library book, starting when it is first pulled off the new book shelf in the library and checked out over and over again by lots of different kids. The book is read alone and with friends and family, while eating dinner or in the bathtub. It travels to the park, hides under a cat's butt, gets caught in the rain, and is even stuck between the doors of a train car. The book ends with a reminder that you, the reader, are now a part of its story.
But my favorite part is the illustrations. I love a good meta picture book, and this one delivers. From the beginning, you see that the book being checked out and enjoyed is, in fact, the same one you are holding in your hands. Starting with crisp clean pages at the beginning, with each checkout we see all the signs of wear and tear from the story - wrinkled, taped, and dog-eared pages, water and hot chocolate stains, dirt smudges and sticky marshmallow blobs from a camping trip. The crayon scribbles are so realistic I thought they were real, and a borrowed by slip at the end has the signatures of all the kids mentioned in the story.
By the final pages, this book looks like all the other picture books in the library: well-loved.