BooksforTopics Reading for Pleasure Recommendations
Book Title: Tomorrow Most Likely (available here)
Author: Dave Eggers
Illustrator: Lane Smith
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Publication Date: April 2019
Most Suitable for: EYFS/KS1
Reviewed By: Tim Dunford, Class Teacher
Dave Eggers and Lane Smith have put together a charming little book about the magic potential and possibilities of every day. This would be a lovely book to read at the end of the school day or at bedtime to reflect on what has happened and ponder about what tomorrow may bring.
It is written in verse with quite a few amusing rhymes and some unexpected twists. The young boy protagonist makes his way through a day in the city (including his home and the park) and finds intrigue everywhere. The book, like the child, is very playful. It proposes such scenarios as, “You might eat a cloud…You might write a song and sing it too loud”.
The illustrations complement the sense of playfulness well, with oil paint, ink, pen and collage paper. They are very textured and reward close inspection alongside the text. One particular skyscraper is made from shards of newspaper and the perspective of this page (and others) is unusual. This helps to give the viewer a chance to see the everyday through different eyes as the boy seems to eat a cloud and ride on a whale (which is really just a picture on a lorry below the bridge he is standing on).
The city in this book may feel vast but it is also homely and children will enjoy looking for smaller details and searching for the squirrel Stu amongst the pages. The feeling captured is whimsical; there is no particular narrative thread (other than the missing squirrel) but that’s sort of the point. Who knows what tomorrow will bring?
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You can order Tomorrow Most Likely online or from your local bookshop or library.
Many thanks to the publisher for sending us a review copy of this book and to Review Panel member Tim for reviewing it.