Book Description
for A Thousand Billion Things by Loic Clement and Anne Montel
From Cooperative Children's Book Center (CCBC)
An oversized search-and-find picture book begins with a girl stating that she doesn’t like going to sleep. Why? Because most of her life is filled with choices. Cereal or toast at breakfast? Stripes or spots when getting dressed? On Saturdays, the farmer’s market is a bounty of flavors to try, and a trip to the toy store and bakery both display dazzling arrays. Everything she does offers myriad things to choose from or discover or see. Each double-page spread focuses on a single activity the girl describes in a lively narrative that addresses readers directly. Most of the page spread is devoted to an expansive and crowded collection of things—all of her food choices, all of her clothes, all of the toys at the store, and confections at the bakery, etc. Readers are asked to find one or two of them from among the many. A key at the end of the book repeats each illustration in smaller form and mostly black and white, with only the item or items requested in color. Children who love the challenge of the search and those who love poring over detailed illustrations will delight in these pages. As for why the girl hates to sleep … well, going to sleep is nothing but sheep. (Ages 4-8)
CCBC Choices 2018. © Cooperative Children's Book Center, Univ. of Wisconsin - Madison, 2018. Used with permission.