1AbigailAdams26
My name is Abigail, and I am a newcomer to the ROOT Challenge group. I've been eyeing it for a few years now, ever since I started featuring Challenge groups here on LT, in the January issues of SOTT. I own many, many books I haven't read, and am always meaning to incorporate more of those books into my reading schedule! Despite these good intentions, I often prioritize library loans, books I read with friends, and books I read online. This year I hope that, with the help of this challenge to keep me motivated, I'll make more of a dent!
I've elected to begin with a 100-book goal, which sounds more ambitious than it is. I'm a children's book lover, and read many picture books per month, in addition to longer works. I do try to thoroughly review every book I mark read—I posted my 8000th review today!—so that does slow things down some, but hopefully my goal is reasonable.
I'm looking forward to participating more as a reader and member here, and getting to know some of you (and your reading) better.
I've elected to begin with a 100-book goal, which sounds more ambitious than it is. I'm a children's book lover, and read many picture books per month, in addition to longer works. I do try to thoroughly review every book I mark read—I posted my 8000th review today!—so that does slow things down some, but hopefully my goal is reasonable.
I'm looking forward to participating more as a reader and member here, and getting to know some of you (and your reading) better.
2AbigailAdams26
ROOT #1
Read on: 1/1/26
I loved this gorgeous Christmas picture book! Originally published in Italian as Vostra befana, and then translated into English by Genni Gunn for the Canadian publisher Greystone Books, Yours, Befana: A Letter from the Winter Witch pairs an engrossing narrative from author Barbara Cuoghi with beautiful artwork from illustrator Elenia Beretta. The use of color here was striking, reminding me of Beatrice Alemagna, another Italian picture book author/illustrator whose work I love.
Full review HERE.
Kindle Edition available HERE.
Read on: 1/1/26
I loved this gorgeous Christmas picture book! Originally published in Italian as Vostra befana, and then translated into English by Genni Gunn for the Canadian publisher Greystone Books, Yours, Befana: A Letter from the Winter Witch pairs an engrossing narrative from author Barbara Cuoghi with beautiful artwork from illustrator Elenia Beretta. The use of color here was striking, reminding me of Beatrice Alemagna, another Italian picture book author/illustrator whose work I love.
Full review HERE.
Kindle Edition available HERE.
3AbigailAdams26
ROOT #2
Read on: 1/2/26
The Illustrated Fairy Gazette: A Christmas Celebration was an absolute delight—beautiful, and lots of fun! Canadian author/illustrator team, and mother and daughter Avril Tyrrell and Frances Tyrrell created their six-volume The Illustrated Fairy Gazette—a self-published miniature magazine meant to be for the fairies themselves—from 2000 to 2021. I own a complete set, after purchasing them from Frances Tyrrell on Etsy, and they're lovely. This volume is the first of three larger picture book-style titles based on that magazine, from British publisher Templar Books. It's beautifully illustrated, and wonderfully interactive, with lots of extras like: a fold-out map of the fairy world, a paper doll with clothes, recipe cards, and fairy stationary for writing Santa.
Full review HERE.
Read on: 1/2/26
The Illustrated Fairy Gazette: A Christmas Celebration was an absolute delight—beautiful, and lots of fun! Canadian author/illustrator team, and mother and daughter Avril Tyrrell and Frances Tyrrell created their six-volume The Illustrated Fairy Gazette—a self-published miniature magazine meant to be for the fairies themselves—from 2000 to 2021. I own a complete set, after purchasing them from Frances Tyrrell on Etsy, and they're lovely. This volume is the first of three larger picture book-style titles based on that magazine, from British publisher Templar Books. It's beautifully illustrated, and wonderfully interactive, with lots of extras like: a fold-out map of the fairy world, a paper doll with clothes, recipe cards, and fairy stationary for writing Santa.
Full review HERE.
5MissWatson
Welcome, Abigail, and lots of Happy ROOTing.
6AbigailAdams26
>4 connie53: >5 MissWatson: Thank you!
7cyderry
We are honored that we have a member of the LT staff joining us in our challenge to read our own tomes! Welcome!
8Cecilturtle
Welcome, Abigail! All the best with your ROOTing!
9rabbitprincess
Welcome aboard and have fun!
10AbigailAdams26
>7 cyderry: I'm not sure about the honor, but am happy to be here! :) Thank you for the welcome!
11AbigailAdams26
>8 Cecilturtle: >9 rabbitprincess: Thank you both for the welcome!
12AbigailAdams26
ROOT #3
Read on: 1/4/26
I have many pet reading projects, arranged around themes. Witchy picture books, children's books about foxes, folk and fairy-tales of all kinds. One of these projects is picture books based on Christmas carols and songs, and I've read quite a few. I discovered this one at a big book sale in Bethlehem, PA last spring, when some friends and I went on a bookstore/book-sale road trip through NJ and PA. Although I wouldn't describe The Twelve Days of Christmas from author/illustrator John Speirs as a personal favorite—when it comes to picture book presentations of this carol, I prefer the ones done by Laurel Long and Jane Ray—I did find it cute. I also appreciated the twelve punch-out ornaments, one for each verse, that were still intact in the book. That made this quite a find for me!
Full review HERE.
Read on: 1/4/26
I have many pet reading projects, arranged around themes. Witchy picture books, children's books about foxes, folk and fairy-tales of all kinds. One of these projects is picture books based on Christmas carols and songs, and I've read quite a few. I discovered this one at a big book sale in Bethlehem, PA last spring, when some friends and I went on a bookstore/book-sale road trip through NJ and PA. Although I wouldn't describe The Twelve Days of Christmas from author/illustrator John Speirs as a personal favorite—when it comes to picture book presentations of this carol, I prefer the ones done by Laurel Long and Jane Ray—I did find it cute. I also appreciated the twelve punch-out ornaments, one for each verse, that were still intact in the book. That made this quite a find for me!
Full review HERE.
13AbigailAdams26
ROOT #4
Read on: 1/5/26
I've been doing a deeper dive into the work of prolific picture book author and artist Demi recently. She's known for her biographies and folktale retellings, primarily. This little miniature box set of three board books is something of an outlier, when it comes to her books. The board books themselves are sweet, and tell simple little stories about various animals at Christmas. The artwork is quite cute. I don't know that I would strongly recommend Demi's Christmas Surprise, but I'm glad to have tracked it down.
Full review HERE.
Read on: 1/5/26
I've been doing a deeper dive into the work of prolific picture book author and artist Demi recently. She's known for her biographies and folktale retellings, primarily. This little miniature box set of three board books is something of an outlier, when it comes to her books. The board books themselves are sweet, and tell simple little stories about various animals at Christmas. The artwork is quite cute. I don't know that I would strongly recommend Demi's Christmas Surprise, but I'm glad to have tracked it down.
Full review HERE.
14detailmuse
Welcome, Abigail! Your picture books interest me -- some that are available as library ebooks might fit nicely between my ROOTs.
15AbigailAdams26
>14 detailmuse: Thank you! In terms of ebook editions, many of the picture books I read are out of print, and don't have them. That said, I can indicate where they do, if that is helpful. So far, of the six I've read, only "Yours Befana" has an ebook (a Kindle) edition: HERE. I've added a note to my comment on that title, and will do likewise, going forward.
16AbigailAdams26
ROOT #5
Read on: 1/7/26
The fifth and final entry in doll maker and artist E.J. Taylor's Biscuit, Buttons & Pickles series, about two rag dolls and the retired nanny with whom they live, Christmas at Ivy Cottage is quite cute, and has a sweet story. These books aren't personal favorites, but I'm a bit of a completist, and it bothered me that I had only read the first four books. Unlike those volumes, which were published in both the UK and USA, this fifth one was only ever published in the UK, so I couldn't get this one through the libraries here.
Taylor's actual doll-making was impressive, and he taught for some years for NIADA (National Institute of American Doll Artists). I was sad to learn, when writing my review for this one, that he passed away in 2022. This Memorial Page has some examples of his work, if you scroll down.
Full review HERE.
Read on: 1/7/26
The fifth and final entry in doll maker and artist E.J. Taylor's Biscuit, Buttons & Pickles series, about two rag dolls and the retired nanny with whom they live, Christmas at Ivy Cottage is quite cute, and has a sweet story. These books aren't personal favorites, but I'm a bit of a completist, and it bothered me that I had only read the first four books. Unlike those volumes, which were published in both the UK and USA, this fifth one was only ever published in the UK, so I couldn't get this one through the libraries here.
Taylor's actual doll-making was impressive, and he taught for some years for NIADA (National Institute of American Doll Artists). I was sad to learn, when writing my review for this one, that he passed away in 2022. This Memorial Page has some examples of his work, if you scroll down.
Full review HERE.
17AbigailAdams26
ROOT #6
Read on: 1/11/26
The story of lonely Great Wolf and how he comes to the aid of the Good Woodsman on Christmas Day is told by author Helen Hoover in this original fairy-tale from 1967, accompanied by the artwork of Charles Mikolaycak. I'd never heard of Hoover before picking Great Wolf and the Good Woodsman up, but have learned that she and her husband were pioneers in the back to the land movement in the 1950s, leaving careers in Chicago to live in the north woods of Minnesota. She wrote a number of works of nonfiction about this for adult readers, which I now hope to track down. In any case, I found this story poignant and thoughtful, and the artwork gorgeously stylized, in a way that is instantly recognizable to me, having grown up reading books illustrated by Mikolaycak, or with his artwork on the cover. There is a newer edition of this one with illustrations by Betsy Bowen, whose work I also love, and I will eventually seek that one out as well.
Full review HERE.
Read on: 1/11/26
The story of lonely Great Wolf and how he comes to the aid of the Good Woodsman on Christmas Day is told by author Helen Hoover in this original fairy-tale from 1967, accompanied by the artwork of Charles Mikolaycak. I'd never heard of Hoover before picking Great Wolf and the Good Woodsman up, but have learned that she and her husband were pioneers in the back to the land movement in the 1950s, leaving careers in Chicago to live in the north woods of Minnesota. She wrote a number of works of nonfiction about this for adult readers, which I now hope to track down. In any case, I found this story poignant and thoughtful, and the artwork gorgeously stylized, in a way that is instantly recognizable to me, having grown up reading books illustrated by Mikolaycak, or with his artwork on the cover. There is a newer edition of this one with illustrations by Betsy Bowen, whose work I also love, and I will eventually seek that one out as well.
Full review HERE.
18detailmuse
>15 AbigailAdams26: Thanks -- and the out-of-print generality is helpful. I did notice that some seem to be multi-media-ish so not e-compatible. I added a "notify me" tag to Yours, Befana in the Libby app.
19AbigailAdams26
ROOT #7
Read on: 1/17/26
Published last year, Two Little Gorillas is the sixth picture book I have read from English author/illustrator Jo Weaver, whose gorgeously illustrated animal stories combine naturalistic and realistic details with engaging family dramas. Here we have Toya, who encounters and befriends Umu, another little gorilla who has become separated from his family, bringing him back to her own loving father and family group.
I am not well-versed in gorilla social dynamics, and found myself wondering as I read whether a silverback would be so friendly to a lost baby, and to his father, another silverback. But apparently gorilla families regularly adopt orphans, and can have quite friendly relations with neighboring families. This 2023 article from the Gorilla Fund discusses just such a case! Given that fact, the story here is even stronger, anthropomorphizing the animals a bit, but keeping their behavior in line with what is known to be true in the wild. The accompanying artwork, which looks like it was done in graphite and then colored in green and brown tones to match the jungle setting, is just gorgeous!
Unlike some of Weaver's earlier books, this one has not been published in the states, and is not available in libraries here, which is why I ended up purchasing a copy. It is not available, in either print or ebook format, here in the states, but in the UK a Kindle edition can be found HERE.
Full review HERE.
Read on: 1/17/26
Published last year, Two Little Gorillas is the sixth picture book I have read from English author/illustrator Jo Weaver, whose gorgeously illustrated animal stories combine naturalistic and realistic details with engaging family dramas. Here we have Toya, who encounters and befriends Umu, another little gorilla who has become separated from his family, bringing him back to her own loving father and family group.
I am not well-versed in gorilla social dynamics, and found myself wondering as I read whether a silverback would be so friendly to a lost baby, and to his father, another silverback. But apparently gorilla families regularly adopt orphans, and can have quite friendly relations with neighboring families. This 2023 article from the Gorilla Fund discusses just such a case! Given that fact, the story here is even stronger, anthropomorphizing the animals a bit, but keeping their behavior in line with what is known to be true in the wild. The accompanying artwork, which looks like it was done in graphite and then colored in green and brown tones to match the jungle setting, is just gorgeous!
Unlike some of Weaver's earlier books, this one has not been published in the states, and is not available in libraries here, which is why I ended up purchasing a copy. It is not available, in either print or ebook format, here in the states, but in the UK a Kindle edition can be found HERE.
Full review HERE.
21AbigailAdams26
>20 connie53: I really recommend Jo Weaver's picture books—they're lovely!
23AbigailAdams26
>22 connie53: Ah, ok, understood! I'll keep that in mind, in terms of mentioning when books have Dutch editions. I read a number of books from the publisher Clavis, and most of them are translated from Dutch. I recently went through an An Leysen phase (she's Belgian, but Flemish I believe, and her books were published first in Dutch), but my copies were obtained through inter-library loan, rather than purchase, so they weren't ROOTs.
24AbigailAdams26
ROOT #8
Read on: 1/18/26
A young boy must give chase when the wind snatches away his pomegranate on Yalda Night—the ancient Persian festival marking Winter Solstice—in this lovely picture book from author/illustrator F. Nakhaei. The story here is sweet, and the cultural background fascinating. I was not aware of the existence of Yalda until picking up The Last Pomegranate. The artwork is lovely, with soft tones and an almost blurry style that feels dream-like.
Although culturally Persian, this book was originally published in Dutch as De laatste granaatappel, and translated into English by the original publisher, Clavis Publishing, a major Belgian / Flemish press, when it comes to children's books. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be an ebook version of this one.
@connie53: I remembered that I was meaning to read this one, after commenting above about Clavis Publishing.
Full review HERE.
Read on: 1/18/26
A young boy must give chase when the wind snatches away his pomegranate on Yalda Night—the ancient Persian festival marking Winter Solstice—in this lovely picture book from author/illustrator F. Nakhaei. The story here is sweet, and the cultural background fascinating. I was not aware of the existence of Yalda until picking up The Last Pomegranate. The artwork is lovely, with soft tones and an almost blurry style that feels dream-like.
Although culturally Persian, this book was originally published in Dutch as De laatste granaatappel, and translated into English by the original publisher, Clavis Publishing, a major Belgian / Flemish press, when it comes to children's books. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be an ebook version of this one.
@connie53: I remembered that I was meaning to read this one, after commenting above about Clavis Publishing.
Full review HERE.
26AbigailAdams26
>25 connie53: It's my pleasure! I hope your granddaughters enjoy it!
27connie53
>26 AbigailAdams26: Wednesday I'm planning to shop in my favorite bookshop for children. I have to collect a book I ordered and I will ask for the book or if they can get it for me.
28Jackie_K
A belated welcome, Abigail. Some of the books you've read already look so beautiful - children's book illustration really is an art form all of its own.
29AbigailAdams26
>28 Jackie_K: Thank you! I got in the habit of reading many picture books when I managed a children's bookstore (needed to know what to recommend), and I became a big devotee of the form.
