Red Knit Cap Girl

Naoko Stoop is a self-taught artist whose love of art began at the age of 5 but who set it aside until after her schooling.  She now creates art specifically geared towards young children - the time when she herself fell in love with art.  Red Knit Cap Girl is her first picture book, and it tells the charming story of a nature loving girl who wants to talk with the moon.  

I love the illustrations.  The artwork is done on a plywood canvas in acrylic, ink and pencil.  The grains of the wood breathe life, texture and movement into every page.  The color palette is perfect for a book that takes place in the forest and helps the reader to escape into nature with the Red Knit Cap Girl.  

At the start of the story the Red Knit Cap Girl is alone with a bunny but in her search for the moon she finds her forest friends.  They decide to throw a party for the Moon, so she will know they are there.  They make paper lanterns and light up the sky, "But there is just silence."  The story has a sweet ending and accompanies the beautiful illustrations nicely.

The characters, images and story are presented with simplicity but the textures of the wood grain and the color schemes create a magical feeling.  My kids love this book.  So much that every time I have sat down to write a post about it, I have not been able to find the book - it has been tucked away in their bedroom or in the corner of a pop-up reading tent or whichever corner they have last been reading it in.

I am excited because you too can have this book for your children (or you!) to haul around your house to read, imagine and play with.  I have one copy to giveaway!

The giveaway is open until this Friday, June 29th.
Here is how you can enter to win:
- leave a comment on this post,
- link to the post on Facebook,
- tweet about the post, or
- pin the post on pinterest
You will receive one entry for each thing you do from the list above (up to four entries).  Make sure and leave a comment for each of your entries.

Good luck!!


I received a review copy of this book, but all opinions are my own.