I knew that Sebastien Braun‘s Digger and Tom! was going to be a massive hit from the second I saw the cover at the library. (Sometimes you can judge a book by its cover, I guess?). It’s got brightly colored illustrations, construction vehicles, and exudes the kind of friendliness that is especially appealing to a toddler.
An extremely friendly, brightly colored construction site invites the reader in right away.
Unsurprisingly, Digger and Tom! was in regular rotation for months around the two-and-a-quarter age range, with no pause until I eventually snuck it back to the library.
As an initial matter, Digger and Tom! opens quickly to set up our main character, Digger, as someone we should care about.
The opening page gets the reader invested in Digger right away with an ingenious 5 words: “This is Digger. Hello, Digger!” By having the reader excitedly say hello to Digger, we’ve set him up as a friendly vehicle worth knowing. The first page also sets up the onomatopoeia and construction-related action words that run throughout the story, creating a pattern to expect. As with refrains, recognizable patterns are toddler gold.
The very next page tells us what Digger’s problem is going to be: he wants to help out at the construction site, but he makes lots of mistakes.
The illustrations and language are simple, straightforward, and easy to understand. As is Digger’s underlying problem. So when we get to the main conflict in the story — the construction vehicles are all trying to remove a rock that is stuck in the ground — we know exactly what Digger has to overcome and we are invested in his doing so.
And as the vehicles each try to remove the rock, we get more of our onomatopoeia and construction-related action words with each attempt. S loved these words, none more so than “Heave!”
Thinking that S probably would not know what “heave” meant, I mimicked heaving something with S’s foot while reading “Heave! Heave!” out loud. S thought this was HYSTERICAL, and consistently repeated the refrain. But even without this unexpected love of that one particular page, the story stands on its own with its friendly focus on perseverance and the evergreen toddler hook of a colorful construction site.
Digger and Tom! By the Numbers
Pages: 26 pages of what I would consider the “main” book
Word Count: 340
Words Per Illustration: 12.14
Words Per Sentence: 4.65 if onomatopoeia is included, 6.8 if not
About a month ago, S and I took a trip to my favorite used bookstore. S had one mission: find as many Disney books as possible. That mission failed spectacularly, but the trip itself was a success because we walked out with one of S’s new favorite books: Jessica Love‘s Julián is a Mermaid.
I suspect that S’s initial willingness to read the book at the bookstore was related to the fact that it’s about mermaids, and therefore closer in subject matter to a Disney bookthan anything else we found, but the book has stood on its own for weeks now, no Disney required.
We meet our main character and learn what he’s all about: “Julián LOVES mermaids.”
The capital letters convey excitement and the depth of Julián’s love for mermaids, and the spare text keeps our focus on exactly that.
S’s consistent response to that line: “I do too!”
S has recently hit an age where identifying similarities with other people has become very enjoyable. S wants to know who else likes raisins/granola/younameit. The fact that the book comes out and says exactly what Julián loves gives S an immediate point of connection with Julián. They both love mermaids.
Other things that S finds relatable/enjoyable in the story:
the subway
a parade
playing dress up
fish
MERMAIDS (not just Julián’s love for them, but their actual presence in the story).
The illustrations are another huge draw. They are colorful, varied, and have tons of mermaids in them. We flip through to all the pages with mermaid pictures, including the beautiful end pages, which depict Julián and his abuela as mermaids.
Exhibit B: This is a favorite image because it is bright, active, and has tons of different kinds of fish to point out. Plus Julián’s mermaid tail.
The text in this story is incredibly spare (only 86 words across 23 sentences, with 11 wordless spreads), which puts even more focus on the illustrations. When they are this beautiful, it works quite well. It also means we finish reading the story relatively quickly, which I think is a key factor in S’s re-read requests (as well as my willingness to indulge them).
Things that (I think) go over S’s head:
As far as I can tell, S does not understand the story on a deeper level than the basic plot.
S does not seem to pick up on Julián’s fears that his abuela may not like him dressing like a mermaid. Nor does S seem to understand that the images show Julián imagining himself as a mermaid with long hair while on the subway. I have had to point out that the mermaid there is Julián.
But the basic plot and illustrations are enough to captivate S. It’s another check mark in the column of having enough hooks for a younger reader, even if your primary target is slightly older.
Julián is a Mermaid By the Numbers
Pages: 32 pages of what I would consider the “main” book, though we also spend a lot of time looking at the final end pages, since those feature a number of mermaids in them
Word Count: 86
Words Per Illustration: 3.58 if you don’t include each of Julián’s individual “becoming a mermaid” images as a separate illustration; 2.15 if you do
I have been a huge fan of Rebecca Gardyn Levington and Noa Kelner‘s Afikoman, Where’d You Go?ever since it first released two years ago. It’s bouncy, fun, imaginative, and right up my alley (an anthropomorphic afikoman version of Where’s Waldo? = truly incredible stuff). This year, S was finally old enough to understand a bit about Passover, so I was really excited to be able to share the book as part of our celebration.
It was an immediate success. S got it as a prize for finding the afikoman on the first night of Passover (thanks, mom and dad!) and has wanted to read it multiple times a day since. As with Challah Day!, Afikoman, Where’d You Go? is representation at the level that means the most to kids. Finding the afikoman is (in my opinion) the most kid-friendly part of the seder, and the one that intuitively makes the most sense to a toddler (hide and seek! with a snack at the end!). So to be able to relive the fun over and over is exciting.
But it takes a lot more than a great premise to make a great book. So let’s take a deeper dive into some of the things that the book does so well:
Interactivity and Agency
Thanks to Rebecca Gardyn Levington and Noa Kelner for their kind permission to use some of their art in this post!
The story brings the reader into the action immediately, opening with a question: “Have you seen the Afikoman?” We are not going to be passive participants in this story — we are going to be finding the afikoman too. The rest of the stanza further sets this up: “But together we will find him. We can do this — you and I!”
S is immediately hooked and ready to find the afikoman, pointing him out on the first page and every subsequent page. (“He’s over there!” “Right there!” [spoiler alert] “In the doggy’s bed!”)
The first page also immediately sets up Afikoman as a lovable trickster. He’s “silly” and “sneaky” — two words that immediately signal to S that this is going to be fun. S loves when things are “silly,” and now Afikoman has a personality matched by the delightful illustrations.
Extremely active illustrations
I have often written about how important active illustrations are to keeping S engaged with a story. Afikoman, Where’d You Go? has this going on in spades. Each illustration has tons going on, and the ability to point out so many different interesting things (Afikoman! the dog! bunnies! a basketball!) keeps S’s attention on every page.
A fun refrain that reinforces the interactivity
Every few failed attempts to find the afikoman there is a catchy refrain — “Is he hiding somewhere high? Is he hiding somewhere low? Afikoman? Afikoman? Afikoman? WHERE’D YOU GO?”
The refrain is incredibly effective. For starters, toddlers adore repetition. And this refrain reinforces the interactivity of the story, reminding us to check for Afikoman on every page. It also pushes the adult reader (*cough*, me) to ask the child where the afikoman is on other pages too, if they haven’t done so.
Plus, the refrain sets up two hysterical back to back payoffs at the end. I won’t spoil the first one, which is amazing, but the fact that the structure is parallel to the earlier refrain highlights the change for S.
And then S loves the last page, where Afikoman escapes in a car. (We’re still very into vehicles, so pointing out the car gets us a lot of mileage…bad pun only sort of intended.)
All in all, this book is a blast, and I’m glad I get to read it a lot.
Some random musings
Non-English Words
I have occasionally seen questions in writer’s spaces about the use of non-English or culturally meaningful words in picture books (and concerns about the book not being universal if they’re included). The narrator in Afikoman, Where’d You Go? uses Hebrew words for her family members — Imma (mom), Abba (dad), Savta (grandma), Saba (grandpa). This is a complete non-issue for S. S had never heard those words before, wasn’t bothered by it in the least, and figured out what was going on from the illustrations without my needing to explain anything. (Plus there’s a glossary, for anyone who needs it.) And now they’re familiar words for S, given that we’ve read the book about a gazillion times. So from my perspective, if you are considering using words that have meaning to you in your picture book, go for it!
Book Signings
My parents were able to get the book personalized for S at an event. I thought this was really cool, because I love Rebecca’s work. What surprised me was how much S loves it too. Every time we open the book, the first thing S does is point out the inscription and say, “That’s for me!” Obviously the personalization does not impact sales since we were already buying the book regardless, but I found it interesting. It certainly makes it feel even more special when we sit down to read it.
Afikoman, Where’d You Go? By the Numbers
Pages: 30 pages of what I would consider the “main” book
Word Count: 378
Words Per Illustration: 22.24
Words Per Sentence: 4.15*
*Since the book rhymes, it creates natural pauses that make it easier for S to pay attention to longer sentences. I therefore counted clauses as full sentences where they conveyed a full idea that S could understand (i.e., where they would likely have ended with a period rather than a comma if the book were written in prose). That occurred in about half of the book’s sentences (with the other half naturally being 6 words or less).
In mid-to-late January, S started to get particularly into bunny rabbits. At the same time, S began to gravitate towards Laura Sassi and Farah Shah’s Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle. This isn’t surprising — the book is adorable and prominently features a bunny as the main character.
Said bunny.
What surprised me a bit was the depth of S’s interest in the book. It’s not just any book; it’s “my” book. As in, the book gets thrust toward me with the instruction to “read MY book.”
The book is very long for S’s normal attention span (561 words), but we can often get through the full text because the sentences are short and bouncy and there’s lots going on on each page.
For the most part, though, S actually “reads” the book without me by picking it up and flipping through the pages. This is a testament both to Shah’s colorful, inviting illustrations (and the volume of fun things to spot in them), and to Sassi’s writing creating the opportunity for new and exciting illustrations on each page.
Since the illustrations seem to drive S’s interest in the book, I thought it would be interesting to highlight a few images and point out what captures S’s attention in them.
This is probably one of S’s favorite images in the book. We’ve got (1) a bunny (2) wearing a bow (3) setting out cakes. And in the background, there are pumpkins, flowers, a ladybug vacuum that S loves to point out (“ladybug!”), and a clock on the wall that S also loves (“clock!”).
Here, S is interested in umbrellas and raincoats. (And probably also the bunny.) The movement in the illustrations across multiple images also doesn’t hurt.
And here, the big winner is the bird essentially playing hide and seek in the window. (And probably also the bunny.)
TL;DR: Having lots of things to point out in the background adds to the number of possible toddler hooks and helps build vocabulary. It turns an already-fun book into an outright winner. Also, one can never go wrong with bunnies.
Pumpkin Day for Boo and Belle By the Numbers
Pages: 30 pages of what I would consider the “main” book
Word Count: 561
Words Per Illustration: 18.1
Words Per Sentence: 5.39*
*Since the book rhymes, it creates natural pauses that make it easier for S to pay attention to longer sentences. I therefore counted clauses as full sentences where they conveyed a full idea that S could understand (i.e., where they would likely have ended with a period rather than a comma if the book were written in prose). That occurred in about half of the rhyming sentences.
I’ve written a bunch about the ways that subject matter influences S’s willingness to read books over and over again, and about the fact that even having a favorite subject in the background of an illustration can be enough to get a repeat reading request. To that end, I thought it might be interesting to create a list of the (sometimes idiosyncratic) subjects that seem to be toddler gold:
Animals – bonus points for foxes, penguins, dogs, bunnies, and cats
Transportation – bonus points for airplanes, helicopters, and buses
Construction vehicles – bonus points for excavators and bulldozers
Clocks – S loves to point out wall clocks in the background of things
If you really want an A+ on S’s picture book report card, combine one or more toddler-approved book subjects into your story. This can be in the main plot or in the illustrations.
Nikki Shannon Smith and Tamisha Anthony‘s In the Neighborhood was an immediate favorite in the board book category because of its sweet refrain and because it seems to deliberately (and brilliantly) hit on just about every topic a toddler might like. Baby goes on a walk (with “laces in a bow”), blows bubbles, gets flowers, meets a horse and a puppy, gets berries, sees cars, gets car stickers, watches friends learning how to throw a ball, sees a friend reading, and has a picnic.
As noted above, even putting toddler-approved book subjects into the background of illustrations is often enough to get a re-read request. We’ve been getting a ton of mileage recently from books like Goodnight Bubbala where a favorite object (there, a toy schoolbus) can be spotted in the background in different places on different pages.
I you happen to know of (or write) a book that fits these categories, let me know in a comment. We’ll be first in line to grab it!
