A Book for Pio by Susie Oh – The Strawberry Post
A book review of a fun children’s picture book about a pig visiting a library for the first time, but what book will he take home to read and what secret is he hiding?
About A Book for Pio
Title: A Book for Pio
Author: Susie Oh
Illustrator: Susie Oh
Publisher: Tiny Tree Books
Genre: Children’s picture book
Book format reviewed: Paperback
Sweet Strawberries: 
Description: Pages rustled. Restless feet shuffled. Librarians bustled about. Just then, the library doors opened, and a gust of wind ushered in…
a pig!
Meet Pio, a brave little pig on his very first solo trip to the library. With a library card dangling from his collar, Pio explores towering stacks of books and nosy nooks, feeling a bit lost along the way. But with a kind librarian’s guidance and the help of new friends, Pio discovers that there’s a perfect book for everyone – even a little pig like him!
*Free copy provided by publisher for review…
My review and thoughts on A Book for Pio
Aw, what a sweet and touching story. The library is an exciting place filled with lots of books and people, but it’s Pio’s first time in the library and when he enters through the doors he begins looking at everything. He looks at the magazines, at text books and tries to look around the shelves of novels and poetry books, but he’s soon feeling overwhelmed by the tall stacks of books. Can Pio find a book to read? The paperback is filled with some lovely thick matt pages of some interesting and fun illustrations and text.
The book begins by showing a library before Pio, a little pig, enters it and begins to look around. It’s his first time at the library and Pio is soon feeling overwhelmed, until a kind librarian points him towards the children’s area of the library. While there, he meets several different children, all interested in reading something different, but what type of book is Pio interested in hims40elf. I like how Pio’s experiences can match that of so many children when they first enter a library, feeling excited about reading a book although we soon discover Pio is hiding a secret about himself that affects his reading. I won’t say what happens but it’s a great story that shows kids that no matter what their reading ability, the library is a positive place to be.
The illustrations throughout the story are all in black and white with a few bits of added yellow in places. Despite the more muted colours of the book, the story really works and I love how fun this book looks, with the characters, especially Pio’s emotions easy to see, and I like the fun use of patterns in some areas making it visually interesting and appealing. The book has a lovely and sweet ending and I just love that last page when you discover what book Pio has taken from the library. The story is a fun one and will make you smile so much once you’ve read it, and it’s also a great message for any children out there who might be worried about going to a library for the first time or who lack some confidence in their reading ability. Overall a wonderful book!
What do you think of this book? Do you remember your first time visiting a library? Let me know what you think in the comments below 🙂
