Please, Louise
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5.0 • 4 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
A library card unlocks a new life for a young girl in this picture book about the power of imagination, from Nobel Prize–winning author Toni Morrison.
On one gray afternoon, Louise makes a trip to the library. With the help of a new library card and through the transformative power of books, what started out as a dull day turns into one of surprises, ideas, and imagination!
Inspired by Pulitzer Prize–winning author Toni Morrison’s experience working in a library as a young girl, this engaging picture book celebrates the wonders of reading, the enchanting capacity of the imagination, and, of course, the splendor of libraries.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
The Morrisons (The Tortoise or the Hare) don't just champion the act of reading: they explain what it does. Reading is valuable, they explain, because it banishes fear. "Scary thoughts are your creation/ when you have no information." Louise, an Asian girl, sets out for the library in a yellow rain slicker. The trip is scattered with threats: a strange man hunched over a harmonica, a deserted house with dark windows. The narrator pleads with Louise to think clearly instead of reacting reflexively: "Is that house really haunted? Or does it just need care?/ Why not imagine the joy that used to be there?" When Louise enters the library, its shelves open wide around her in an embrace. Strickland (White Water) paints a moving portrait of Louise in tight close-up, completely absorbed in reading. On the way home, the change in Louise's attitude is reflected in what she sees. While it's hard to fault the message that books can open minds and perspectives, the delivery suffers from a cajoling narrative tone and an overall roughness to the verse. Ages 4 8.
