Noticing by Kobi Yomada

Noticing, a picture book for tweens and older, beautifully illustrates the point that “One of the best things you can be is interested.”

Noticing by Kobi Yamada, illustrated by Elise Hurst. Compendium Inc., 2023, 40 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 10-15

“It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?” The question comes from an older woman seated an easel and canvas. The young lady she speaks to responds noncommittally: “It’s okay, I guess.” Really? “Just okay? Why, we have the birds, the trees, the sky, the questions, the what-ifs, and the why-nots!” The artist goes on to introduce her companion to a different way of seeing, not just through eyes, but through imagination. Her canvas interprets a so-called ordinary day into a world of wonder, an orchestration of wind and earth and sky, “tempting [us] to be amazed.” She makes the young person wonder “what I was missing.”

We all miss a lot, every day. It’s for artists to see the world and interpret it for us, but we forget that we are all artists in one sense: everyone mediates reality. The main difference is whether we pull reality into ourselves to interpret according to our mood, background, or training—or whether we set ourselves free from our own narrow concerns and cultivate humility and amazement. “One of the best things you can be is interested,” says the painter, and that implies interest in something besides ourselves. Our uniqueness shines in the ways we share wonder with others.

Noticing takes no notice of a Creator and makes too much of ourselves as creators. Which we are, but without grounding in God our creations can become unreal, ugly, even harmful. Still, it’s a worthwhile reminder for young people of the value of looking and appreciating. They can start by searching the swirly water-color illustrations for hidden lines and suggestive shapes.

Overall Rating: 4.25 (out of 5)

• Worldview/moral value: 3.75
• Artistic/literary value: 4.5

Read more about our ratings here.                 

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Resource: See our Art and the Picture book booklist! also this more recent roundup of Art-and-Artist picture books.
• Reflection: “The Power of a Picture” ponders how and why humans learned to draw.

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