Books Aren’t For Eating, illustrated comfort book food on leveling up

Growth is good. That’s not exactly what Gordon Gekko said, but let’s keep that phrase in the context of schooling and growth is good. That can happen in many forms, from not kicking the chair in front of you, to remembering to bring a pencil to those younger ages when they stop chewing on the pages of books. It’s a special day when board books can go the way of the Do Do and those pre-k kids know that the time for that is nigh. Books Aren’t For Eating is silly, illustrated book fun that pre-k and K kids know, but will draw in their own parallels as to things that they know that they shouldn’t be doing at that age.

It’s the age-old practice of aging up by pointing out the recent things that they used to do, but that they know now were silly and something more in line with what a baby might do. Level up, as the video game kids might call it. This works with any age but is really effective for those younger elementary school kids who are trying to embrace the big-kid way of thinking.

Leopold is a goat that owns a bookstore, don’t judge. He’s a grown goat who loves to help readers find just the book that they’re after when they enter his store. One day he sees another goat come into his store and really tries to please him. Leopold gets a book from his private collection and presents it to the younger goat, who promptly eats it. He scolds the young goat and tells him what every civilized creature knows that Books Aren’t For Eating.

So he gets out the really large library ladder to get to another special book from way up high and presents it to the younger goat, who promptly eats it. Nothing fazes him as he gets kicked out of the bookstore. Leopold chastises him as he saunters down the sidewalk, saying that he’s going to add all of the damage to his bill.

When Leopold gets home he’s sharing his frustrating day with his wife, who promptly reminds him that he used to eat books also. This is a reminder that your spouse is usually correct in their timely advice and has your best interests at heart. With this knowledge pinned to the top of his memory, he goes back to the store, finds his absolute favorite book, and shares it with the young goat.

Does the kid eat it? That’s the lesson of leveling up that elementary-aged children want to learn, need to learn, and sometimes don’t learn fast enough, but they learn it. Of course, Books Aren’t For Eating isn’t a lesson book. This is an illustrated book that’s simply telling a silly story about an entrepreneurial goat. His bookstore is a staple in the community and he’s got a heart for sharing his passion for reading with everyone, especially his fellow goats.

The illustrations in Books Aren’t For Eating are by Manu Montoya. They’re calm, comforting and take you to a quiet mountain community where the coffee place is run by a third-generation family, and the hardware store is ramshackle and has everything that you need. There’s also a quaint book store, where anthropomorphic goats wear decorative mohair sweaters, have an immediate calming effect on you, and softly teach elementary ages about leveling up and ceasing certain behavior.

Books Aren’t For Eating is by Carlie Sorosiak with illustrations by Manu Montoya and is available on Walker Books US, an imprint of Candlewick Press.

There are affiliate links in this post.