Recent Reads: Alma and the Beast by Esme Shapiro

Source: From Librarything Early Reviewers and Tundra Books in exchange for an honest review. This in no way alters my opinion or review. 

Alma and the Beast by Esme Shapiro
Publisher: Tundra Books
Publication Date:  September 3, 2019

 

Format: Hardback

Rating: 







Goodreads Synopsis: 

Alma's beautiful, hairy world is turned upside down by the arrival of a stranger. From the utterly original imagination of the author-illustrator of Ooko comes a story about celebrating differences and making new friends. For fans of Where the Wild Things Are and Wild.

Alma lives happily in her hairy world, where she can braid the trees, comb the grass, pet the roof and feed her plumpooshkie butterfly. Until one day . . . a hairless, button-nosed beast appears in the garden! At first Alma is scared but when she realizes the beast is lost and misses her hairless home, Alma offers to help her find her way back. As the two take a fantastical journey through the red-headed woods and the bearded mushroom glen to the beast's bald abode, they discover that they are much more alike than different.

This quirky and charming story about friendship, tolerance and perspective invites readers into a surreal, fantastical world that evokes Alice in Wonderland, Where the Wild Things Are and The Lorax. 

 Review: 
Alma and the Beast is a cute and colorful book about overcoming differences and fear to help each other. When Alma and the Beast first meet they are both scared and the beast is very lost. Alma must help her back to her home.

This book has a little bit of everything for young readers. It is about overcoming differences, in this case beasts and fuzziness, and learning how to help one another anyway. It is colorful and the adventure these characters go on to find home is beautifully illustrated. All of the places and plants are very interesting and there are so many layers in the illustrations. The book is large with big bold two pages spreads for the little ones that want pictures and to point and ask questions but the story is a nice one for both listeners and adults.

I think that parents will really like this as an alternative to their normal book collections and it is a very creative imaginary world that young readers would be happy to experience.