Lost in a Good Book

Published: 06 March 2018
Publisher: Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers
Illustrator: Jessie Sima
Pages: 32
Format: Picture Book
★   ★   ★   ★  – 4 Stars

Harriet loves costumes. She wears them to the dentist, to the supermarket, and most importantly, to her super-special dress-up birthday party. Her dads have decorated everything for the party and Harriet has her most favorite costume all picked out for the big day. There’s just one thing missing–party hats.

But when Harriet dons her special penguin errand-running costume and sets out to find the perfect ones, she finds something else instead–real penguins Harriet gets carried away with the flock. She may look like a penguin, but she’s not so sure she belongs in the arctic. Can Harriet manage her way back to her dads (and the party hats ) in time for her special day?

This is an adorable story, coupled with even more adorable illustrations. I loved the duel meaning of getting carried away and the fact we have Harriet who is already an outgoing person, it’s no surprise she is giving a warning to reign herself in a little.

I initially thought Harriet was going to be kidnapped by the penguins, but she chooses to follow them and gets caught up in their adventure. This is where the warning from her dads come in because it’s clear this was always a risk of her being caught up by something she fancies and wandering off.

The story is a delightful adventure and I loved how Harriet had agency over what she was doing and where she chose to be. She was clever, negotiated, and resourceful all while trying to get home to her party.

Sima’s depictions of Harriet and her costumes are so good, and I love how things are scaled. The pictures are creative and clever as we see penguins in their hot air balloons and the city backdrop as Harriet and her dads prepare for her party. It’s rare you see a lot of scenery shots, usually there are a lot of close ups in picture books when it comes to matching event in the story. But I liked how Sima tells the story at a distance, where everything is in frame, and it suits the narrative perfectly.

The vastness of the scenery with the penguins, even in the shop to show the little girl wandering a large store really puts you in the scene and you can imagine little Harriet wandering around the supermarket. That isn’t to say there aren’t great close ups too, Harriet trying to get back home through various means, and even the variations on her different costumes choices are joyful.

I loved the story and while I always enjoy the illustrations, I found I particularly liked the style Sima chose and think it enhanced the story even further. I don’t want to say it is a benefit of the author being the illustrator because I have seen perfect matches and compliments between text and illustration before with different people, but there was something about Sima’s illustrations that really stood out to me and made the story even better.

You can purchase Harriet gets Carried Away via the following

 Dymocks | Booktopia

Wordery |  Blackwell’s | Angus & Robertson

Fishpond | Amazon | Amazon Aust