Books Aren't for Eating

June 15, 2022
Books can be life-changing, contemplative, and...delicious? Leopold, a bespectacled, white-furred goat, loves warm sweaters and books. Books transport him out of his own life through his imagination and help him discover new worlds and adventures. Leopold loves books so much that he owns a bookstore and spends his days suggesting books to a racially diverse group of customers--it gives "him such a pleasant feeling, like introducing someone to a friend." Leopold is tested, however, when a gray-furred goat requests a book...for ingesting. Acknowledging his faux pas, the unnamed goat allows Leopold to guide his book-selection adventure, with disastrous (but fibrous?) results. Thankfully, Leopold's wife, a brown-furred goat, reminds her husband that he was once like this tricky customer, motivating Leopold to suggest the title that helped him discover that books were for more than just a light snack. The plotting is droll, and the illustrations--done in gouache and rendered digitally--are amusing in a vaguely Wes Anderson style, but the story feels heavily preached toward the choir. The denouement happens suddenly, which may leave readers wishing to learn more about the gray-furred goat's literary journey (and name) and less about Leopold's life. It's a fine story but one that may not appeal to the gray-furred goats of the world. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Quaint but doesn't leave you wanting seconds. (Picture book. 5-8)

COPYRIGHT(2022) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 17, 2022
A caprine bookseller communicates literature’s creative and conceptual value to a book-hungry shopper in this playful tale for bibliophiles. Leopold, a bespectacled white billy goat, loves cozy sweaters and the written word. He’s also fond of making selections for customers—“each fit its reader snugly and warmly, like a sweater.” His curatorial instincts falter, however, when another buck wanders into the shop in search of titles to chomp. “This is going on your bill,” says Leopold, pictured waving a half-eaten tome through the shop window. A suggestion inspired by Leopold’s own book-munching days turns things around, and concluding vignettes show the hungry patron metaphorically “filling up” on stories. Employing gouache and digital techniques, Montoya uses earthy tones to craft warm scenes of various creatures browsing the shelves. Ages 4–8.

Starred review from October 28, 2022

PreS-Gr 2-Leopold is a goat who loves cozy sweaters and books. Even more than reading books himself, he loves picking out books for others to read; it is "like introducing someone to a friend." When a new customer in his bookstore proves challenging, Leopold sets out to find "the perfect book-for reading. Not for eating." His wife reminds him of his own transition from eating books to reading them, and the memory is the key to helping his new customer find "stories [that] fill me up." The text and illustrations both have a lovely balance of coziness and humor; Leopold's deep and genuine love for books and reading, and the comfort he gets from entering others' stories and living in their worlds, will resonate with readers of all ages. Charming touches, such as a little white mouse who appears on several pages, and endpapers that show books with bites taken out of them, show care and attention to detail. VERDICT This book could turn anyone into a reader! A first purchase that would pair well with Oliver Jeffers's The Incredible Book Eating Boy.-Jenny Arch

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.