Review - When I Look Up

When I Look Up
by Ellen DeLange
illustrated by Jenny Meilihove
Date: 2019
Publisher: Clavis
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

From the author and illustrator of I WILL ALWAYS BE HAPPY TO SEE YOU comes a book about imagination, dreaming and acceptance.

What do you see when you look up?

Where does your imagination take you?

What do you wish for?

A story about dreaming of beautiful things, and about being happy with what you’ve got. For sky gazers ages 5 years and up.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

When I Look Up follows a little girl who has her gaze turned upward. We see what she sees, from shooting stars to kites stuck in trees, and listen to her wishes as she wonders what it would be like to be up in the sky.

I'm not really a fan of the way this one is written. While the premise is okay, the almost free-verse style just seems like regular sentences where someone forgot the punctuation... which I don't really like seeing in children's books. I also don't understand the page about the rabbit sitting on the moon and the girl's wish to feed it carrots. Everything else in the book (from giraffes to balloons to dandelion fluff) is at least plausible. What's up with the rabbit?!

The illustrations are colourful and interesting, but they're of a style that almost looks like a child drew them. That can work in some instances, and I suppose it works here... but I'm not a huge fan of the pictures.

So When I Look Up was just okay for me. I might've liked it better without that weird spread with the astronaut rabbit. I'm still trying to figure that part out...

Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.5 out of 5