LeUyen Pham - Only Picture Books

Okay, 2021 wasn’t a ton better than 2020 for many folks, though we had lots of high points in the picture book world that helped us through it all.

So, without further ado, here are 21 picture books that delighted OPB enough to include in this year-end roundup of our favorites. (If we missed anything awesome–quite possibly the case–please share your own faves in the comments. We LOVE to hear what books really work for you, and why!)

Barbara Throws a Wobbler by Nadia Shireen (1 June 2021)

An excellent book about feelings with lovely illustrations and more than enough humor to make kids want to hear it again. Did I mention how good the art is?

Read the Kirkus review for it here.

Don’t Hug Doug (He Doesn’t Like It) by Carrie Finison, illustrated by Daniel Wiseman (26 January 2021)

Doug just doesn’t like hugs and that’s perfectly okay. This is a very good book to help spark discussions about boundaries, though it has humor and fun too–it’s not just a message book.

Read the Children’s Books Heal review for it here.

Eyes That Kiss in the Corners by Joanna Ho, illustrated by Dung Ho (5 January 2021)

This lyrical tale show a young Asian girl learning about the beauty of her eyes and her heritage. The art is a knockout, too.

Read the Kirkus review for it here.

I Am Not a Penguin: A Pangolin’s Lament by Liz Wong (19 January 2021)

It’s exactly what you think from looking at that cover–a pangolin is having an identity crisis. Even if I weren’t so partial to penguins and pangolins, this is a fun informational picture book told mostly with word balloons.

Read the YA Books Central review for it here.

King of Ragtime: The Story of Scott Joplin by Stephen Costanza (24 August 2021)

This lovely nonfiction picture book biography tells how Scott Joplin became one of America’s greatest musical pioneers. The writing is full of rhythm, but the art steals the show.

Read the OPB review for it here.

The Longest Storm by Dan Yaccarino (21 August 2021)

This is the powerful story of how a family–three kids, a parent, and a pet–weather a crisis together at home. It’s reassuring to see how they handle their unwanted confinement. The art feels old school in all the right ways, which adds a real sense of mood throughout.

Read the Kirkus review for it here.

The Midnight Fair by Gideon Sterer, illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio (2 February 2021)

Each year, there’s one or two wordless books that earn their way onto the OPB favorite list, and this beautiful book deserves it. It reveals all the magic that happens at night when a fair is closed. Wonderfully so.

Read The Portland Book Review review for it here.

Milo Imagines the World by Matt de la Peña, illustrated by Christopher Robinson (2 February 2021)

During a long subway ride with an older sibling, Milo’s imagination is hard at work. “Maybe you can’t really know anyone just by looking at their face,” Milo thinks, and he’s totally right. This book is lovely and has a well-earned emotional punch at the end.

Read The Horn Book review for it here.

My First Day by Phùng Nguyên Quang and Huy’nh Kim Liên (16 February 2021)

A young Vietnamese boy heads out in a wooden boat with a backpack and an oar–it’s his first time making this trip, he admits. He navigates the Mekong River all on his own, and the wonders of nature are everywhere. Where is he heading? To another first, of course.

Read the Kirkus review for it here.

Off to See the Sea by Nikki Grimes, illustrated by Elizabeth Zunon (12 January 2021)

Bathtime is an ocean of fun when you bring your imagination with you. The story is purposefully simple but very effective.

Read the Publisher’s Weekly review for it here.

Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham (5 January 2021)

This timely book beautifully showcases life during the pandemic. It’s deep and empathetic in all the right ways, and it shows some of the bravery and sacrifices that were made. Lovely art makes this a must-have.

Read the OPB review for it here.

The Rock from the Sky by Jon Klassen (21 April 2021)

A hat-wearing turtle has his day ruined when a rock falls from the sky right onto his favorite spot. He’s stubborn, so he’s going to make it work somehow. His critter friends aren’t much help, though.

It’s a big book–really five books in one. But it’s dark, brooding, and has lots of deadpan fun.

Read the The Wall Street Journal review for it here.

A Sky-Blue Bench by Bahram Rahman, illustrated by Peggy Collins (30 November 2021)

The hardships of living in a war-torn country are made clear when Aria returns to school after an accident–her body isn’t the same. She’s worried about having somewhere to sit, though all the benches have been used for kindling during wartime. A touching Author’s Note completes this fine book.

Read the Seattle Book Review review for it here.

Something’s Wrong!: A Bear, a Hare, and Some Underwear by Jory John, illustrated by Erin Kraan (23 March 2021)

A bear remembers to do everything before leaving the house…except take off those embarrassing tighty whities. Hilarity ensues in typical Jory John fashion.

Read The Novel Hermit review for it here.

Ten Beautiful Things by Molly Beth Griffin, illustrated by Maribel Lechuga (12 January 2021)

During the long ride to their new home, Gran asks Lily to find ten beautiful things to pass the time. Lily isn’t into this plan, but soon learns to see beauty in unexpected places.

Read the OPB review for it here.

Tomatoes for Neela by Padma Lakshmi, illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal (31 August 2021)

In this story, food forms a very special bond between generations. You even get tomato facts as a bonus!

Read the Kirkus review for it here.

Two Grooms on a Cake: The Story of America’s First Gay Wedding by Rob Sanders, illustrated by Robbie Cathro (4 May 2021)

This heartwarming book shares the struggle for the first same-sex couple to be legally married in America. The cake-making throughline is sweet and delightful.

Read the Mombian review for it here.

Unspeakable: The Tulsa Race Massacre by Carole Boston Weatherford, illustrated by Floyd Cooper (1 February 2021)

This powerful book reveals the story of how a 1921 incident with a white female elevator operator and a Black shoeshiner launched one of the worst racial battles in American history. Cooper’s art vividly brings this moment to life.

Read the Kirkus review for it here.

**Since we lost Floyd Cooper in 2021, you might want to check out the OPB interview with him. He’s amazing.**

Watercress by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Jason Chin (30 March 2021)

A touching autobiographical story about how a child of immigrants learns about her family and heritage. Note the wonderful Chinese-inspired art by Justin Chin!

Read the Long and Short Reviews review for it here.

We All Play by Julie Flett (25 May 2021)

A tender book by Cree-Métis artist Julie Flett that reveals how animals play just as we all do.

Read the Publisher’s Weekly review for it here.

Weirdo by Zadie Smith and Nick Laird, illustrated by Magenta Fox (15 April 2021)

It’s a judo-loving guinea pig. What more do you need to know than that?

Read the More About Books review for it here.

Outside, Inside

Author: LeUyen Pham
Illustrator: LeUyen Pham

Roaring Brook Press
5 January 2021
48 pages

This month’s PB review is by Ryan G. Van Cleave (Semi-Professional Insider at Only Picture Books) and Ringling College of Art and Design Illustration Professor (and OPB pal) David C. Gardner.

–Ryan’s Review of the Writing–

The story is quiet, calm, and simple. People who were once outside are now inside. And it’s not just people in one or two places who go inside–it’s “Everyone. Everywhere. All over the world.” But she adds, “Well, almost everyone. Some people needed to be…where they needed to be.”

Who are these people who are exempt from heading indoors? The art that tells us–it’s people from hospitals, police stations, and fire departments. And they’re all wearing face masks.

While the words “virus,” “pandemic,” and “COVID” aren’t included anywhere, that’s clearly what this book is addressing–it’s a fine example of an “of the moment” book. Pham captures the worldwide scope of the coronavirus situation via artwork showing people of all types, and the constant use of “We.” She does an admirable job of presenting both the private and public experiences of a world facing the challenges of a pandemic.

The art style seems to create some of the tension many of us have felt over the past year. I think it has to do with the textures and colors, but I’ll leave it to David to dig deeper into that aspect of things. Since Pham admits that she never thinks of the words first, I suspect there’s a rich trove of details to examine in the art that launched this book.

Regardless, it’s very hard to create a picture book that deals with such a topical issue, but Pham dodges both sentimentality and didacticism with the only attempt at nudging people toward specific action being in this spread below, near the end of the book.

Outside, Inside ends on an appropriate, uplifting note: “And we remembered that soon spring would come. Inside…and outside.” Utilizing the metaphorical versus the literal here is a wise choice that helps open up the book and make it feel bigger than other “of the moment” texts.

This book is a welcome, timely response to a crisis that has dominated our world for a year and requires vital, careful conversations with the children in our lives going forward. Well done, LeUyen Pham.

4.75 out of 5 pencils

–David’s Review of the Illustrations–

LeUyen Pham’s evocative cover sets the tone: a girl and her pet black cat, seen from behind, looking through a window. Outside, only white. It’s a playful and mysterious image – I couldn’t help wondering what was out there.

The book starts with a bustling neighborhood street, full of people. In the next spread, the same street is empty.

Something strange is going on.

Even without the words, we can see that. When the people disappear inside, they seem to take the bright colors with them. The palette becomes muted.

The book, we realize, is a visual journal, showing empty shops and everyday people grounded in everyday details: laptops, masks, indoor activities. And hopeful moments, too: a teddy bear in a window, a family happily baking bread, a drive-by birthday party.

Double spreads are interspersed with vignettes, illustrated scenes like snapshots, images that are common to us all now: Kids playing board games, attending online classes, parents worrying over bills to pay.

The artist has said that she based the pictures on daily drawings she made, recording the pandemic for herself, sketching moments from each day.

An especially effective spread is a mosaic of these vignettes centered around a hospital. In one image, an exhausted health care worker naps on a breakroom couch while another calls home.

We see other cartoon photos of exhausted nurses and doctors, patients on gurneys, and families, all types, huddled in concern and support.

At some point, the artist opens the story up to include the world. Early in her career, Ms. Pham worked as a layout artist for Dreamworks Animation, and her attention to environment and regional architectural details is quite effective. She tells us in pictures: This situation is global.

Still, she uses a light touch. The world never seems too big or overwhelming. In a brilliant, subtle bit of visual storytelling, the girl and her cat act as our tour guides. The bold, simple shapes reminded me of the lighthearted, gouache-painted Golden Book illustrations of Disney great Mary Blair. There are plenty of vibrant colors to appeal to a child, but she balances them with grayed tones that keep the story grounded in our shared, often challenging, reality.

In the end, the artist’s overall tone is one of hopefulness.

She visualizes this with plants, outside and inside. Growing things: A potted plant leafing out as the book progresses, trees that bud and bloom.

One especially effective passage near the book’s end suggests that we are all the same inside. Reaching a colorful crescendo, the flood of hearts could seem cliché as a visual symbol, but in this artist’s hands, the valentines become a lovely, moving design, a powerful extension of the text.

Ms. Pham captures the pandemic and the lockdown with a reporter’s eye and an artist’s big spirit. Whimsical and heart-tugging, the illustrations strike the perfect tone for a children’s book. This is a much-needed report from the trenches, and each page-turn offers a perspective that is sure to comfort children – and their grown-ups.

It certainly comforted me.

5 out of 5 crayons

David C. Gardner is an award-winning illustrator and visual development artist. A former artist for Walt Disney Animation Studios, he has illustrated numerous picture books, including his latest from Sleeping Bear Press, Write On, Irving Berlin! by Leslie Kimmelman (which appeared on OPB in May 2018). It tells the true story of little Izzy Baline, who immigrated to New York City in 1893 and grew up to become Irving Berlin, one of the most well-known composers of popular music in America. David teaches illustration at Ringling College of Art and Design.

To learn more about David’s own work, please visit FlyingDogStudio.com.

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Only Picture Books’ 21 Favorites of 2021

Picture Book Review: Outside, Inside by LeUyen Pham