Book Review: Your Island by Jon Klassen

A book review of a fun bedtime board book for young children where children can imagine an island of their very own. Part of the Your Places series of bedtime books.

About Your Island

Title: Your Island
Author: Jon Klassen
Illustrator: Jon Klassen
Publisher: Walker Books
Genre: Younger children’s picture book/Baby book
Book format reviewed: Hardback board book
Sweet Strawberries:

Description: This is your island for whenever you want to go there.

*Free copy (as part of the Your Places box set) provided by publisher for review…

My review and thoughts on Your Island

This is a very fun board bedtime book. Here is the sun it is coming up for you, and here is a tree, it can go by the sun. There are more and more objects that make up a lovely scene on your island, but what happens when the sun starts to go down? The board book I am reviewing as part of the Your Places box set is filled with matt pages of some fun illustrations and text and has lovely rounded corners.

©The Strawberry Post

The book is a very simple one. It begins with an image of the sun on a double page and the simple text explaining that this is your sun. The next page shows a tree which can go near the sun. As each page is turned there’s a new object mentioned that is added after that to the scene that is building up on the left side of the double page, until eventually all the different objects that make up your island, including some grass and a tent are sitting together with the sun. The sun then starts to go down encouraging the characters in the book and the readers at home to go to sleep.

©The Strawberry Post

I love Jon Klassen’s style of illustration. Each object is simple but has that classic deadpan eye stare, and I love how some objects don’t even have two eyes but one. Each object is added to the scene that’s building up slowly, page by page, and I love how they all end up looking at each other with those eyes. The book is so simple, but the ending is a fun one with everything eventually going to sleep and a nice message encouraging kids to go to sleep while thinking of something nice. It’s a simple bedtime book but it works and is part of the Your Places series of books which are all very similar. A great bedtime read.