The Boy His Stories and How they came to be by Oliver Jeffers - GIFT

The Boy His Stories and How they came to be by Oliver Jeffers, PICTURE BOOK Philomel (Penguin Random House), 2018. $40. 9780593114742

BUYING ADVISORY: ADULT - GIFT 

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE 

Oliver Jeffers has compiled all 4 "Boy" stories into 1 collection - but wait, there's more! Each story comes with a look inside the creators notes - so the reader can see his process, sketches and ideas about each one. "How to Catch a Star" is just that - Boy plans and tries to grab a star from the sky so it can be his friend; In "Lost and Found" Boy finds a sad penguin and decides to take it home to the Antarctic; In "The Way Back Home" the Boy discovers a small airplane and takes it for a fly, but when he runs out of fuel while in flight, he is forced to land on the moon where he meets an alien who is experiencing similar spacecraft troubles; and finally, in "Up and Down" Penguin wishes he could fly. 

An interesting idea including pages of the author's draft, and although it's cool to get inside his head, this edition seems to be more of a coffee table book - to be read by adults - than it would be appropriate for children. The special pages are out of a different kind of paper, not great for little hands to manage. So, all in all, this would make a great gift for the adult who loved the books when they were young.

Lisa Librarian