Review: THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A BOOK by Jomike Tejido From James Patterson Presents

If you love books that mash up retellings, be they fairy tales, myths, classics, or, in this case, nursery rhymes, you're in for a treat!

THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A BOOK by Jomike Tejido was an absolute delight. It begins with the traditional Old Woman from the tales. Her children are missing, so she leaves her home (Which is shaped like A BOOK! If you love books about books, you're going to be head-over-heels for this artwork) and goes to visit her neighbors to see if the kids went next door to visit the three bears from Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

They haven't seen the kids, either, but Papa Bear's porridge is also missing. The two go exploring together. As they navigate their neighborhood, they find more people with missing items who hop on Papa Bear's back and the search widens further and further until they wind up in the Dark, Dark Woods and the story comes to a head.

The proof of a great picture book, of course, lies in if a child enjoys it, right? I brought it over to share with my five and a half year old niece. She's always had books read to her at night, but reading hasn't been her favorite thing because she's so active that she'd rather be playing outside or with her LOL Dolls. (Seriously, she's the only kid I know who hasn't seen most of the Disney movies -- including Frozen! -- because she can't sit still for more than 20 minutes). Now that she's in kindergarten, she's learning to read and is sitting a little longer for books. Usually if I bring her a book, she throws it to the side and when I see her again, still hasn't read it. She really enjoyed this one, though! We read it together and she asked if she could keep it to read again! Her favorite scenes were the ones with the delicious-looking sweet treats, of course -- the gingerbread house and the big party scene at the end! She was a little scared about meeting the Wicked Witch and going into the Dark, Dark Woods because my sister had been teasing her all day about how scary Hocus Pocus was and she was about to watch it for the first time, but she had a really good time with the book!

Even adults will love looking through this one -- especially if they love books about books! I LOVE how creative the artwork is in this book. It is absolutely, hands down, my favorite aspect. Look closely at every page and see how an element was turned into a book page or a book spine!

Here are a few of my favorites:

This was published by the JAMES PATTERSON PRESENTS imprint from JimmyPatterson and Little, Brown. I had no clue that the imprint also published picture books! I love the imprint for kids and teens. The middle-grade line is fantastic to recommend to reluctant readers, due to the short chapters that make them feel accomplished when they've read, say, 20 pages and 12 chapters in one sitting! I also love that there are so many intriguing fantasy titles being rolled out in YA, and that authors such as Kerri Maniscalco and Natasha Ngan have gone on to become so beloved. I can't wait to see what else this line produces, because there has been a lot of gold spread among the family already.

This will make a fantastic holiday gift for a little one, or be a great addition to an upcoming storytime session!

THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN WHO LIVED IN A BOOK by Jomike Tejido was published by JimmyPatterson and Little, Brown on October 1, 2019.

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