Book of the Week: The Three Little Tardigrades by Sandra Fay
This week’s Book of the Week is my turn to share a picture book, and it’s a new favourite of mine: The Three Little Tardigrades: A Slightly Scientific Fairy Tale, written and illustrated by Sandra Fay, designed by Gene Vosough, and published just days ago by Henry Holt & Company.
I first got wind of this book somewhere in the lists and notices last fall for upcoming releases and naturally it caught my eye.
BECAUSE TARDIGRADES
But then I read that it was also a retelling of the classic Three Little Pigs story (because tardigrades are also known as MOSS PIGLETS!), I wondered what “slightly scientific” would mean, and the author/illustrator makes the art with paint and potatoes!
SOLD
Pre-ordered months ago, and finally released on January 20… my first new book of 2024!… and I love it!
The artwork is fantastic, the story is great, but turns out my favourite part is the “slightly scientific” part. Fay sneaks in the science both in the story and the illustrations, which made me laugh and also taught me things. For example…
An image detail of Mother Tardigrade talking to her three little tardigrades and saying “You’re getting so big… You’re all nearly 1/64 of an inch long, or 0.397 millimeters metric…” right before kicking them out of their water droplet nest…
Later, as Tardigrade Gavin arrives at his new home in a volcano, a side note on the illustration points out that it’s “Gavin magnified 10,000 times”
Then when I discovered Three Little Tardigrades was Fay’s second book, I immediately also had to order her first, especially once I found out its title was The Very True Legend of the Mongolian Death Worms.
So both are now on my list of favourite books, and Sandra Fay is solidly on my list of favourite author/illustrators. I’m looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next!
Happy Reading!
– Winston
Cover of The Very True Legend of the Mongolian Death Worms