Picture Book Review: Five Five-​Word Reviews

I’ve got the next six months scheduled out with regular co-​written picture book review, but for this month, we’re having another installment of the increasingly (in)famous Five-​W0rd Reviews. Here we go!


Author: Wendelin Van Draanen
Illustrator: Cornelia Li
Knopf Books for Young Readers
16 January 2024
40 pages

Ryan’s five-​word review: Soaring imagination defies gravity’s pull.

4.5 out of 5 Newton’s apples


Author: Aaron Becker
Illustrator: Aaron Becker
Candlewick
12 March 2024
40 pages

Ryan’s five-​word review: Robots rescue animals. Wordless wonder.

4.75 out of 5 lifeboats


Author: Kim Hillyard
Illustrator: Kim Hillyard
Penguin Workshop
30 January 2024
32 pages

Ryan’s five-​word review: Tiny fly dreams big. Audacious.

4.5 out of 5 mountain peaks


Hippo Park
16 January 2024
48 pages

Ryan’s five-​word review: Unlikely bond. Tender girl-​and-​scab story.

4.25 out of 5 boo-boos


Author: Ying Chang Compestine
Illustrator: Crystal Kung
Rocky Pond Books
2 January 2024
40 pages

Ryan’s five-​word review: Flavorful twist on Rapunzel. Palate-pleasing.

4.25 out of 5 tofu cubes