A Door Is to Open

Written by Kyo Maclear

Illustrated by Julie Morstad

Tundra Books

978-1-77488-744-8 

48 pp. 

Ages 3–7 

April 2026 

 

Doors come in all sizes and shapes. They can be opened and closed. They can protect and invite. They offer so many possibilities. And Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad show us the promises that come with those doors.

From A Door Is to Open, written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad

Kyo Maclear begins her reflective exploration of doors and all they entail with the simplest of functions. As a child opens a blue door, a mother cat and a trail of kittens, each a little different, follow. But there are many doors still be put to work. There are doors that are knocked upon, doors to walk through (into a birthday party), and to close. There are house doors, classroom doors, frosty doors and tent doors. There are automatic doors, turning doors, clear doors, and colourful ones. And there are doors that are organic portals used by animals, both on land and in the water, opening to places of shelter and family.

From A Door Is to Open, written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad

But doors can be as imaginary as they are real.

Some doors are made of words
and lead to places you’ve never imagined. (pg. 17)

And all these doors can make us feel different ways, whether nervous or calm, excited or creative. Each offers something.

From A Door Is to Open, written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad

I could not have predicted that a book about doors would make me feel so much. While many may see doors as barriers, Kyo Maclear gets on the other side of doors and revels in the potential that each presents. I've always appreciated the physical nature of doors, but never have I really looked at what doors offer. With this new perspective, all readers, young and old, are invited to think about what these physical and intangible portals bring to our lives. And Kyo Maclear presents this perspective with few but powerful words—I love writers who use few words to tell big stories (probably explains why I love novels in verse)—and helps us to see more than a barrier.

From A Door Is to Open, written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad

But, with few words, Julie Morstad's illustrations have to be equally powerful, imparting the story graphically. Her art uses pencils, coloured pencils, markers, and watercolours, and then assembled digitally. Because of the variety of media, Julie Morstad's art unlocks details and insight, showing us feeling, opportunity, and children as they live. 

From A Door Is to Open, written by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Julie Morstad

A Door Is to Open is a triumph of perspective in storytelling. Not only are we invited to think more about doors and see the promise of their structure and function, both real and imaginary, Kyo Maclear and Julie Morstad have invited us to see more than doors. They've opened something else for us. They let us see possibility.

The Little Book of Big What-Ifs

Written and illustrated by Renata Liwska

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

978-1-32876-701-1

32 pp.

Ages 4-7

May 2019

I like to think of Renata Liwska's new picture book as a consequential book of big ideas and hopeful opportunities. It's an opening to look at the world from different perspectives. In a world rife with dissension, isolation and fear-mongering, The Little Book of Big What-Ifs provides an opportunity for little ones to see the possibilities for turning that world inside out in a positive way.

Renata Liwska sees common worries that might plague children like What if you slept through your birthday? or What if you make a mistake? and turns them around into What if you're surprised? and What if we all work together? It would seem that, for every uncertainty, there is a possibility for goodness and hope and community.

From The Little Book of Big What-Ifs by Renata Liwska

Sometimes Renata Liwska presents the different perspectives in a double spread as in the example below in which What if you can't think of anything? could also be What if your imagination runs wild? Other times she addresses the two disparate perspectives separately, starting the book with more of the worries but ending it with the positives of What if everyone shared? and What if it spreads? before deviating from the questions and asserting What a difference it would make!

From The Little Book of Big What-Ifs by Renata Liwska

These big ideas, though, come through subtly and intimately, never preachy nor scarily. Renata Liwska's words pack meaning and consideration but at the right level for her audience. Similarly, her illustrations are profound in their quiet resolution of feeling. Perhaps it's because her pencil drawings, coloured via Photoshop, seem touchably soft, like pages of stuffies that include bears, lynx, elephant and mouse. Perhaps it's the emotion with which she infuses her characters, through expression and action. The reassurance the lynx feels from another after spilling milk, or the pleasure of the elephant sharing a radish sandwich with a mouse. Every illustration gives depth of feeling and sensitivity to children's unease about their world and daily events.  Fortunately, Renata Liwska's The Little Book of Big What-Ifs reassures, soothes and uplifts while still acknowledging those qualms as familiar and honest.

From The Little Book of Big What-Ifs by Renata Liwska