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February 12, 2019 by Betsy Bird

Board Book Trailer Reveal: You Are Light by Aaron Becker

February 12, 2019 by Betsy Bird   Leave a Comment

Remember that moment at the beginning of the graduate when Dustin Hoffman gets pulled aside and is told, “One word: Plastics”. That guy was way off. Me? If I could pull any up-and-coming author/illustrator aside I’d say something else.

“Two words: board books.”

The future is board books. Grab the nearest issue of Publishers Weekly if you don’t believe me. Any issue. It really doesn’t matter. Turn a couple pages in and see how books are doing compared to last year. Adult Nonfiction sales might be slightly lower. Children’s Fiction sales may be higher. But board books? Board books are always up. On average 12% higher in terms of sales than the previous year. These sales do not falter or plateau, they only climb. And already we’re seeing children’s book illustrators beginning to experiment when them in interesting new ways. Just look at last year’s crop as an example. Then look at the books in 2017 and 2016. They just keep getting better.

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So if I’d been thinking about it, I would have realized that an artist like Aaron Becker would see an opportunity there. If you know Becker’s name it’s probably from that magnificent quest trio of picture books,  Journey, Quest, and Return. Becker took a seemingly simple form, the picture book, and gave it breadth and depth without sacrificing child-interest and focus. But apparently that wasn’t enough of a challenge because now he’s created a board book and it’s a doozy of a marvel.

Friends and neighbors, I give to you, YOU ARE THE LIGHT, out March 26th, in a trailer Mr. Becker created himself:

 

As you can see, the book works with die cuts and transparent paper. It’s a far simpler construction than, say, Journey, but you’ll find its message is where the depth lies.

When you get your hands on a copy, it’ll be all you can do not to find the nearest window. I know I couldn’t resist the lure:

YouAreLight

Thank you Aaron and the good folks at Candlewick for this book trailer reveal. Can’t wait to see what he does with easy books someday.

Filed under: Best Books of 2019, Videos

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Aaron BeckerBest Books of 2019board booksbook trailer debutsbook trailers

About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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About Betsy Bird

Betsy Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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