The Perfect Seat

by Minh Lê (Author)

The Perfect Seat
Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

From the acclaimed author of Drawn Together and Lift, Minh Lê, comes a playful ode to laptime storytelling.

This child and their parent are almost ready for story time, but first, they must find the perfect seat! This cozy picture book takes readers through various opposites ("Too rough! Too slippery!") as characters search for just the right spot. Adorable art by acclaimed illustrator Gus Gordon invites adults and children to giggle all the way through to the heartwarming ending, when the answer falls right into their laps  because the perfect seat for a child is, indeed, right in a parent's lap. 

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Hardcover
$16.99

Kirkus

There’s more to storytime between a parent and child than book selection. Closeness and comfort certainly count. (Picture book. 3-6)

Publishers Weekly

A dapper moose and rosy-cheeked calf leave a bookstore eager to read, but they struggle to find a place to perch in this well-paced story. Faced with a procession of imperfect seats arranged in opposites, they mount a search ("Too Big" sees them small within a café's giant armchair, "Too Small" finds them perched uncomfortably on a fire hydrant). Lê offers some lighthearted comic variation to the formula, as the adult spins on a tire swing ("Should the perfect seat make you this dizzy?"), and as two sit on opposite sides of a bench that spans both pages of a spread ("Too... Wide"). Gordon's mixed-media illustrations in grays and greens create a comfortable mood just right for lap reading, and readers can follow the two seat seekers via an endpaper map. Though the end is no surprise, this one is just right for the story time set. Ages 3-5. (Nov.)

Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 1--A young moose calf asks an older stylish moose, in a sweater vest and fedora, for a story--but first they need to find the perfect seat for reading aloud together. Thus starts a Goldilocks-esque quest as the companions try out various seats in the city only to find that none are suitable. The bicycle is too rough, the slide is too slippery, the train is too crowded, and so forth. Ready to give up, the moose sits at the base of tree in a park and the two realize they have found the ideal spot to read. Hand-lettered text of brief and precise prose, is spot-on for very young listeners. Illustrations crafted using watercolors, pencils, crayons, and touch of collage convey a subtle whimsy. The bright red book, to be shared by the companions, is on every page and stands out against the mostly light green, gray, and blue pages. VERDICT A perfect pick for sharing aloud in almost any seat in the city.--Mindy Hiatt, Salt Lake County Library Services

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

"A perfect pick for sharing aloud in almost any seat."—School Library Journal
Minh Lê
Minh Lê is the author of several children's books including Drawn Together, which won the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature, and Lift which was an Eisner Award Nominee. His other books include Let Me Finish!, The Perfect Seat, and The Blur. Minh has written for the New York Times, the Horn Book, and the Huffington Post. He currently lives in San Diego, California with his wife and kids. Visit him online at minhlebooks.com or on Instagram and Twitter @bottomshelfbks.

Raissa Figueroa is the illustrator of several picture books, including We Wait for the Sun, which received a Coretta Scott King Honor, as well as four starred reviews. She also illustrated Oona, Princess Unlimited, Sophie and the Little Star, and The More the Merrier. She loves taking in the early morning light while out on walks with her dog, Ghost, and letting her mind meander off to fantastical new places. Visit her online at rizzyfig.com
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781368020046
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date
November 12, 2019
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV047000 - Juvenile Fiction | Books & Libraries
JUV013060 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Parents
JUV002290 - Juvenile Fiction | Animals | Deer, Moose & Caribou
JUV009040 - Juvenile Fiction | Concepts | Opposites
Library of Congress categories
Humorous stories
Picture books
Chairs
Parent and child
Books and reading

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