#109 of 1001 · November 17, 2020

We could all use a good laugh now and then, and I chuckle every time I read Nelson Makes a Face by Burton Cohen and William Schroder, a lighthearted spin on the hackneyed warning, “Your face is going to freeze like that!” Young Nelson just loves to stir up trouble in his quasi-medieval village by making ridiculous faces at whomever he sees. Without warning, a mysterious woman known as the Mirror Lady emerges from the mirror in his bedroom and informs him that she is going to teach him a lesson by freezing his face in three consecutive expressions, with time in between to test out the effects of each one. Nelson first opts for grinning delight, then tearful misery, and finally glowering anger. These unfortunately timed immovable expressions spark humorous misunderstandings with Nelson’s Aunt Beatrice, the local Wizard, and an irascible dragon. Schroder’s orange and grayscale drawings ably match and heighten the situational comedy of Cohen’s farcical premise. #face #happyface #sadface #angryface #madface #book #books #childrensbooks #beautifulbook #beautifulbooks #beautifulbookcover #beautifulbookcovers #picturebook #picturebooks #picturebookillustration #picturebookart #childrensbookillustration #childrensliterature #illustration #kidlit #kidsbooks #bookworm #booklover #booklovers #bibliophile #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookstagrammers #instabook #instabooks