My Favorite Picture Book

discoverbookjoy
Mar 6, 2016
3 min read

"I'm sorry to have to tell you about your sandwich

this way, but now you know..."

I'm just going to say it.

"The Bear Ate Your Sandwich" by Julia Sarcone-Roach just might be my all time favorite picture book. And that's saying a lot. A whole lot. This book was released last year and although it sadly did not grab a Caldecott at the ALA Awards, I have yet to get over this fantastic gem. The book's art is simply stunning. The story is endearingly humorous and also adorable in its apparent simplicity. However, it's the revealing punch line at the end - after which the story becomes anything but simple - that makes this book nothing less than brilliant.

The vivid illustrations are what causes "The Bear Ate Your Sandwich" to initially stand out among all the other incredible releases in the children's literature world. The characters and settings are not particularly detailed or realistic, and yet each brush of colors is infused with a fascinating amount of movement, expression, and emotion. A stroke of black and a splotch of brown somehow convey a bear's face more convincingly than a precise drawing ever could, as well as communicate his loveable delight in discovering the new sights and sounds of a city.

The wonderfully lively color palette that Sarcone-Roach uses here is one of my favorite aspects of this book. It consists of cheerful yellows, lush greens, sparkling blues, and warm oranges. This vibrant and sunny setting makes the blackness of the bear stand out and also gives the story an overall friendly and incredibly joyous mood.

As if the style and the colors were not reasons enough to love this book, the bear himself is simply too cute for words. After all, who would not be attracted by the front cover and that charming face longingly eyeing a very unguarded sandwich? Although he is both a silent and a nameless main character, the bear is amazingly expressive and readers of all ages will not be able to help but immediately love him while also giggling at his misadventures. His curiosity and liveliness is so animated, there is just no need for him to speak.

At first, the story appears to be a sweet, albeit simple one about a bear and his unexpected journey from his peaceful forest to a city of unfamiliar scenes and species. It's certainly a cute tale in and of itself, but it becomes truly memorable in the way the unknown narrator brings the reader into the story by speaking in first person: "By now I think you know what happened to your sandwich. But you may not know how it happened. So let me tell you." From page one, the reader is already transported into the story as a character and literally made a part of it. But that's not all. Sarcone-Roach has created a marvelously powerful and effective hook: we are reading not for the what or the why as we so often do in books, but rather for the how. It's brilliant.

And then there's the big reveal in the form of an unanticipated punch line. And it changes everything. Readers will laugh out loud with surprise and delight when they suddenly realize what the story has been about the whole time. The subtle hints in the front and back end pages, as well as those sprinkled throughout the story, will make hilarious sense. The identity of the unreliable narrator is so funny and so fitting, it absolutely culminates the story we thought we were reading. And yet, this is a book worthy of repeated readings. Knowing what's coming doesn't at all take away from the build up or the ending; in fact, both become more amusing and more clever with each read through.

In summary, "The Bear Ate Your Sandwich" is, for me, the perfect example of everything that's so amazing about children's picture books. It's filled with incredible art that is beautiful to look at and entertaining to read. It consists of a loveable cast of characters while both literally and figuratively drawing the reader into the book. It makes use of clever literary techniques to add unexpected depth and meaning to the story. Finally, "The Bear Ate Your Sandwich" is a book that children and adults can appreciate respectively and enjoy together.

And that's why it's my favorite picture book.