A story about perseverance for budding--or flourishing--engineers, both big and small. Engibear sets out to create a "Bearbot" to help him get his work done. The book counts through the various prototypes and why each doesn't work until the engineer finally is successful with Bearbot Type Ten. Benjamin Johnston's illustrations feature design schematics, diagrams, blueprints, and colorful workshop scenes that children will delight in looking at again and again.

In fact, it's the illustrations that pulled me to the book (I'd seen some of Benjamin Johnston's portfolio images online somewhere and remembered them) and they give it a five star ranking (reserved only for books that I would like to have as part of my permanent collection).  The images are gorgeous combinations of science, comedy, and explosions with a touch of graphic novel mixed in.  Their complexity is what gives repeat readers a new experience again and again. Just the end pages could require a half hour of pursuing to see all the details. 

Cathy, guest reviewer at Children's Books Daily, says about reading the book with her 5 year old son, "We read that Bearbot’s legs are made of 'carbon-fibre segmented flexible cable with internal stabilisers'. There’s no way that the junior engineer understands this, but they are the kind of words that are sheer pleasure to roll around in his mouth. They will inevitably be incorporated into the next Lego project. Then one day he may even figure out what they mean." This is a book that has the ability to grow, with different ages pulling different information and messages from it.  And it has a sequel!  How awesome is that?  (Cathy's review also links to an interesting interview with the author, so follow the tangent, it's fun to see photos of the original inspiration.)

Today's RhyPiBoMo book is My Grandma Lived in Gooligulch by Graeme Base.  An imaginative celebration both of Australian animals and eccentric relatives, it's a fun, poetic read which would probably be better if I spoke with an Australian accent.  

I realized that out of the ten or so children books I have in my current study pile, they all start with a double spread.  Page one therefore is on the left-hand side of the page, an inner title page to its back.  This A4 size book of Graeme Base's is no different.  It starts with double-page spread ink drawing of a lively grandmother, song-bird on her shoulder and map in the background accompanied by four stanzas explaining where the narrator's grandmother comes from and that there isn't much to make the place famous--except his grandmother.  This is followed by wordless, full-color, double-page spread painting that connects to the narration.  The entire book follows this pattern.  A monochromatic ink drawing with 3-5 stanzas followed by a related wordless, colorful, detailed two-page spread.  Whether stippled ink or full color, the pages have a white border less than a centimeter wide with parts of the illustration bleeding past the border and off the page.  Because of the fairly unusual A4 size, the book seems slightly more narrow and tall than your typical children's book.  (A4 is a standard international copy paper size--slightly taller and narrower than the standard U.S. 8.5 x 11 inch paper)