It's a Book by Lane Smith

Oh, boy, is this book perfect for our time. It's unbelieveable how many times I get asked "a bookstore? Why did you open a bookstore? No one reads books anymore." It's a Book, shows that even though you can't tweet, blog, or text with a book, it is still worth your time. The illustrations are simple and cute and the text switches between characters. The "anti-book" character in a computer like font and the "pro-book" character in a storybook font (the same as the cover). It was cute and quirky and entertained me. Good for any age really, but based on the language and word choice, it might be meant for early readers.

Warning: The anti-book character is a donkey who's name is Jackass. The last line of the book is "It's a book, Jackass." So it's a cute and simple children's book, but because the last line has some obvious second meanings, you may want to consider who you buy it for.

-Jenny

Looking Like Me by Walter Dean Myers

Inspiring and unique. A goosebump inducing book! Looking Like Me encourages you to define yourself by all the things you are, a brother, sister, runner, dancer, writer, or reader. The illustrations are wild, a mixture of photography and paper cutouts of odd and whimsical things with a slight jazzy feel to it. The language is very simple with a simple rhyming pattern, but it isn't just simple type like most books but art unto itself. Different fonts, styles, colors, and placement, make reading it even more engaging and eye grabbing to kids. Very neat and artistic book. A celebration to the self.

-Jenny

The Lion and the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

A beautiful version of the classic Aesop's fable. The illustrations are vibrant, detailed, and cover the entire page. Although there are no words in this book, it encourages the imagination of kids to fill in the story for themselves. Especially since most people know this story already, limiting the words allows for more focus to be on the illustrations and the action happening on the page.

-Jenny