3 Picture Books about “How”: The Dictionary Story, The Shape of Things, and How to Make a Picture Book

Three new picture books give readers insight into words, maps, and stories.

The Dictionary Story by Oliver Jeffers and Sam Winston. Candlewick, 2024, 56 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 0-4

Recommended for: ages 3-8

“Most of the time, all the books knew what they were about, but there was ONE book who was never quite sure of herself.” The Dictionary, unlike the other books on the shelf, couldn’t be read from first page to last because she didn’t tell a story—just a jumble of words. What’s fun about that? So, “one day, the Dictionary decided she would bring her words to LIFE!” That happened in the A’s, with “alligator,” whom we see tearing through the page between “armadillo” and “audience.” Of course he was hungry, so he wandered off in search of “donut,” who didn’t want to be eaten and went on a terrified role right through “ghost,” waking him from a long nap.

At first this is all very exciting to Dictionary, but she loses control long before everything gets swept up in tornado’s terrible tantrum. Her friend Alphabet saves the day, leaving Dictionary relieved and happy in her humble role of supplying words for the other books to tell their stories. Dictionary columns for a border along the bottom of each page, with handwritten text and quirky, slapdash illustrations. After a few read-throughs, readers might want to try creating their own chaos with random words drawn from the pages.

Bottom Line: An imaginative romp through your dictionary’s pedestrian pages.

The Shape of Things: How Mapmakers Picture Our World by Dean Robbins, illustrated by Matt Tavares. Knopf (PRH), 2024, 40 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 6-10

“Mountains rose in the east. A lake shimmered in the west. A valley stretched out far below.

“Where did the creek flow? Where did the trails lead? Where did the woods end?”

Mapmaking began in order to answer those questions. Readers who enjoy pouring over oversized atlases will be fascinated to learn how the earliest attempts at cartography appeared. Beginning with a fictional cave family drawing dots on a cave wall and carving grooves into a mammoth tusk, we take a world history tour through Meso-America, ancient Egypt, Athens, Polynesia, and European circumnavigation. Maps appear on papyrus, boulders, stones and sticks before taking shape on a globe. Near the end, our opening illustration of mountains and valleys is repeated in the present day, with bridges, roads, and houses.

All the fictional representations have real life examples discovered by archaeologists and explorers. These are shown on a timeline to provide historical reference. Mapmaking tools, mapmaking skills, and additional facts round out this attractive, informative volume.  

Bottom Line: The fascinating origins of cartography.

How to Make a Picture Book: The ULTIMATE Step-by-Step Guide by Elys Dolan. Candlewick, 2024, 48 pages.

Reading Level: Picture Book, ages 4-8

Recommended for: ages 6-10

Our guide for this happy how-to is an earthworm. Actually it’s Dr. Elys Dolan, speaking through an alter ego that’s easy to draw (because she’s the illustrator, too). Bert the blue bug is her assistant, providing supplies and asides. “Step-by-step” is an accurate description, as we put first things first: Ideas. Dr. D presents a gallery of her favorite things (including donuts, paper clips, and chickens), adds thing 1 to thing 2, involves one or both in an activity, and provides a setting. Next, apply these to a ready-made story-builder—a list of springboards and transitions. Put it all together to make a story.

But this is about how to make a picture BOOK, so concrete instructions follow—not just for book-folding paper, which most kids know how to do already. The interesting part is the composition of a picture book, or what to picture, how large or how many, and how to communicate with color. Each step of the process is followed by an “Activity Time,” where kids can make their own list, add their own elements, and make their own book.  Some will be inspired to try; others will at least end with some idea of the thought that goes into their favorite picture books.

Bottom Line: A fun “how-to” with instructions kids can actually follow.

Also at Redeemed Reader:

• Reviews: Word-masters: Noah Webster and His Words and The Right Word: Roget and his Thesaurus (starred review)
• Reviews: For young geographers, Maps and Prisoners of Geography
• Reviews: See Look! I Wrote a Book! by Sally Lloyd Jones.

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