Monday, June 8, 2009

David Small: Imogene's Antlers

"On Thursday, when Imogene woke up, she found she had grown antlers."

When I need a book that is going to immediately catch kids' attention, hook them from the very first line, and set their imaginations reeling, I often reach for Imogene's Antlers. There are very few sure bets in the world. Imogene is one of them.

Imogene wakes up one morning to find that she has grown antlers. While this creates some hilarious inconveniences and much fainting on the part of her mother, Imogene and her family come up with some ingenious uses for her new antlers. The surprise ending is one of my all-time favorites, and a crowd-pleaser to boot.

Author/illustrator David Small's illustrations have appeared in countless issues of The New Yorker and The New York Times, and he has illustrated over 40 picture books. On his website, you can view his sketchbook, which is a real treat. Here are a couple of my favorite pages:


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