I keep getting in library trouble?

+ 5 fantastic picture books just for fun 🦊

Feb 18, 2025

A cut out of 9 library hold slips pasted onto a blue background resembling a sky. Clouds are drawn above the hold slips in white and blue. — Making art from my library hold slips.

This last month, I’ve made weekly trips to the library and SOMEHOW I’ve already gotten in “trouble” FIVE times. It’s embarrassing because I’m the gal who studies then follows your rules front and back and upside down. I’m terrified of doing The Wrong Thing.

If you really love picture books and the library, let me tell you:

It’s not recommended you place 15 of them onto the self-service kiosk at once.
Feeling flustered, you might forget to scan Mr. S by Monica Arnaldo and set off the alarm. Now you’re nervous you’ll be mistaken for a picture book thief!
When you return for more picture books, librarians will think it’s for your child and when you explain they’re mostly for you, you’ll get crickets. (To be fair, the library is already quiet—one rule you’re still able to follow.) You’ll wonder why the self-service thingy has stopped working, and you’ll be told the check out limit is 20 books, not 30. You promise to never do that again.
Then later you get a call because your giant pile of picture books have been on hold for a week and are you ever coming to get them? Yes, you’ll be there in an hour! And you stop your work and rush over because you really want those books and you really don’t want to get in more trouble.
While you’re at it, you return other books well before their due date to redeem yourself. Which is when you’re told they belong to a different library…… 😆

With the U.S. in shambles and many of us feeling plain weary, who couldn’t benefit from some levity? Hopefully my little library mishaps gave you a smile. If not, maybe one of the books below can. Feel free to enjoy these titles on your own or with a kid in your life. (I’ve done both!) —E.T.

Now onto the book recs!

A two-photo collage with "Mr. Fox's Game of "No!"' on the left in a green cover with a magician-like fox on the front. It's written by David LaRochelle and illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka. The photo of the right is a close-up of Mr. Fox, an illustrated character with bright melted ice cream all over his face.

🦊 MR. FOX’S GAME OF “NO!”
written by David LaRochelle & illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

Read this book out loud and take Mr. Fox’s game rules very seriously lest you fall for his sneaky traps!1 It’s a cheeky book.

Like The Book With No Pictures by B.J. Novak, Press Here by Hervé Tullet, and Not a Box by Antoinette Portis, Mr. Fox’s Game of “No!” breaks the fourth wall to engage the reader one on one. This form is called “metafiction.”

A two-photo collage of Quentin Blake's book "Cockatoos." The image on the left is of the book cover which shows Professor Dupont perplexed and ten cockatoos perched above his head. The illustration on the right shows Professor Dupont looking into the toilet. All illustrations are done in a loose watercolor style.

🦜 COCKATOOS
by Quentin Blake

When I finished this picture book, I audibly said to myself, Ah, that’s awesome. And it is. Professor Dupont’s ten cockatoos, fed up with their owner’s predictable daily routine, break free from the conservatory and tuck themselves into unusual places. The seeking-and-finding in this book is even more enjoyable when you have Quentin Blake’s watercolors to search through.

☔️ THE DICTIONARY STORY
by Oliver Jeffers & Sam Winston

What a project it must’ve been to bring The Dictionary Story to life! Every detail is delightful—from Oliver Jeffers’ acclaimed illustration style to the photography and typography and Sam Winston’s genius rewriting of dictionary definitions—there’s so much to enjoy. On my first pass, I completely missed that each headword (the word being defined2) had a spin-off definition. You MUST read at least some of them.

Examples:

hippopotamus: A very large mammal with short legs that lives near water in Africa. Hippopotamuses are vegetarian. Their idea of a good time is not wearing clothes, floating in water and wallowing in mud. (See spa.)

spaghetti: Pasta that is shaped into long, thin strands and is often enjoyed with yummy sauce. A useful tool for decorating white T-shirts and nearby walls with red dots.

crawled: Past tense of crawl, to move on your hands and knees across the ground. A lot of small things like to crawl, like woodlice and mice. Sometimes big things like to crawl, too, like traffic jams.

A two-photo collage of Mikey Please's "The Café at the Edge of The Woods." The image to the left is of the cover with Rene (a woman) and Glumfoot (a troll?) with a giant shadow with two googly eyes looming above them. The image on the right is from a page with Rene in a yoga-like pose, swirling food in a pot as Glumfoot carries a pile of ingredients.

THE CAFÉ AT THE EDGE OF THE WOODS 🧌
by Mikey Please

I read this last week to a dear friend’s daughter, and we pointed out all the illustrative details and eww-ed at the grubby meals whipped up for the creature-customers. Mikey Please is also an animator, which I think comes through in his work. The book is constructed in a way that looks/feels comic-like (lots of panels) and cinematic (there’s even an illustration from a “wide angle” POV).

THE BABY TREE 👶🏻
by Sophie Blackall

While The Baby Tree is ultimately a book about reproduction (with useful back matter for adults), it answers the “where do babies come from?” question with gentleness and humor. The curious little narrative covers this topic so effortlessly.

On another note, I’ve been studying Sophie Blackall’s written work lately and have been taking notes on her pacing and page turns. It made me happy to find a fellow writer who italicizes dialogue rather than using quotation marks. Also, if you haven’t already, check out her book, Farmhouse. Stunning.

That’s all from me today! If you enjoyed today’s edition of Nōto and want more like it, please give this post a heart and share it with others. I’m hoping to find more folks interested in the kidlit world.

Who else loves all things picture books? 🤩

Take it from your resident rule-follower. 🙋🏻‍♀️

I just learned what this means.