It is almost the end of the year, and that means I’m collecting all the different books that I haven’t reviewed yet to select my favourite of the year. And then, someone recommends a book I had never heard of, and I have to start all over again! Well, I wasn’t feeling too sad, because the book in question is Never, not Ever! by Beatrice Alemagna, and it is just so much fun! (Stay tuned for next week’s review, if I can make up my mind!)

I saw this book as I was leaving one of the stands at the Salon du Livre de Montreal, and I just had to stop to pick up Loupiote illustrated by Camille Tisserand and written by Catherine Latteux. What a beautiful book!

This week, I received a free ticket from Illustration Quebec to attend the Salon de Livre de Montreal. It had been years since I attended this book fair, and I was really excited to go into the city! Over there, I found a few beautiful picture books that I’ll be sharing with you over the next few weeks. Let’s start things off with Meet Me by the Sea, written and illustrated by Taltal Levi.

A few weeks ago, I discovered Inga Moore and her wonderful illustrations. Ever since, I’ve been on a quest to find her books at the library. This time, I received Moose’s Book Bus, and what a treat this book is!

I stumbled upon this book while I was browsing books at the library. The style was so particular and the cover so cute, that I had to bring back Evergreen by Matthew Cordell. What a fun surprise!

In one of her videos, Jen Campbell mentioned Coralie Bickford- Smith’s newest book, and it looked stunning. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it at the library, but I was able to order The Song of the Tree through the interlibrary loans. What a stunning book!

A few weeks ago, I spotted this book at the library when I was bringing back some books. I immediately asked to borrow it, but it was a inter-library loan bound for its home library. No matter, I ordered it the moment I came back home, waited a few weeks, and here it is! I had so much fun with this book, so let’s have a look at Castle in the Stars by Alex Alice.

When I saw this book, I instantly feel in love with it! I was very intrigued to discover this team of Vietnamese illustrators, and what a treasure their work is! Let’s jump right in The Fawn Who Chased the Sun, by Quang & Lien and Joanna McInerney.

Kay Nielsen is one of the most influential illustrator of the 20th century. Know for his long silhouettes and incredible renditions of fairy tales, his work is so inspirational. I took a deep dive into his life and work with the book Kay Nielsen, an enchanted life, by Meghan Melvin from the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

Another week, another great library find! This week, let’s dive in this adorable album: Knight Owl by Christopher Denise.

A while back I shared The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse, by Charlie Mackesy. I love this book so much and really enjoyed the animation movie too. That’s why I was so excited to find Big Panda and Tiny Dragon by James Norbury.

A while back, I shared The Unwinding by Jackie Morris. It is such a beautiful and enchanting book. Then I stumbled upon The Lost Words at the bookstore, a big and beautiful tome that I really wanted to look at, but it was unfortunately already sold. Well, I was stirred towards The Lost Spells, also by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris, and after looking at both books at the library, I have to admit, this little book might be my favourite!

It is no secret that I have a soft spot for cats, and so when I saw this book at the library, I had to pick it up! I knew the story of Bob and James Bowen through the movie A Street Cat Named Bob, and I was very excited to see the story told from the point of view of Bob the cat. Let’s take a look at My Name is Bob written by James Bowen and Garry Jenkins, and illustrated by Gerald Kelley.

Beatrice Blue’s reputation as an incredible children’s book illustrator is well establish and with good reason. This week, let’s jump in A Witch’s Broom.

I spend a good amount of time each week looking up new picture books and ordering them through the interlibrary loans. This service is incredible, but sometimes, books take a bit of time to find their way to me. This means that I have books coming in each week, but sometimes, they’re a bit of a surprise as many weeks, sometimes months, can pass between me ordering and the book arriving. This is what happened this week, and what a great surprise it was to receive Au fond du puits by Sylvain Alzial and Louise Collet.

I found this book by chance at the library (it had been put in the wrong section), and immediately knew it had to come home with me. Nikki McClure is a paper cutting artist and Collect Raindrops is a collection of her works, and it is fascinating!

I was really excited to receive this book through the interlibrary loans because it is so clever! Suzy Lee created three books using the center fold of the book as the basis of her stories. It is so clever! Let’s dive into Shadow.

Last time I was at the library, I took advantage of the librarian looking for my interlibrary loan books to have a browse in the children’s section. I have to admit, it was an unhappy haul, but I did stumble upon this beautiful book. Let’s take a look at The Promise by Nicola Davies and illustrated by Laura Carlin.

I found a copy of the first book of The Heartwood Hotel series, and it is such a cute story full of funny and enchanted characters. I really liked the cute illustrations and was very excited to see the Stephanie Graegin had her own storybooks. This week, I received Fern and Otto through the interlibrary loans, and it is such an adorable book.

I first heard of this book through Jen Campbell, and I instantly knew I had to find it! This week, I received it from the interlibrary loans (what else is new?), and I’m excited to share the graphic novel Garlic and the Vampire by Bree Paulsen with you.