Journey and A Splash of Red

After the ALA YMA were announced yesterday, I headed to the library and I managed to pick up some new picture books, including a few award winners. Yes, I did feel bad for taking all of them, but I promise I'll return them relatively soon.

I re-read A Splash of Red: The Life and Art of Horace Pippin by Jen Bryant & illustrated by Melissa Sweet. I first read it in April of 2013 and I loved it, mostly because I'm a big fan of Sweet's artwork and I'm a sucker for picture book biographies. It was so much better the second time around because I took the time to really look at the details on each page.

I finally got my hands on Journey, written and illustrated by Aaron Becker. It's a selection for the Seven to Ten age group on the 2014 Capitol Choices list, but I wasn't able to get it from the library until now.

Reading these books back-to-back worked for me because color is so important to both books. Red is particularly important and the emphasis on the color was glaringly obvious when I read both books in the same sitting.