How This Book Got Red by Margaret Chiu Greanias and Melissa Iwai (ARC Review)

Title: How This Book Got Red
Author: Margaret Chiu Greanias
Illustrator:Melissa Iwai
Type: Fiction
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Date published: October 1, 2023

A complimentary physical copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review.

In How This Book Got Red, a clever picture book tale about the power of representation, a red panda decides to write her own story when she realizes that none of the other panda books include pandas that look like her.

When Red discovers a new book about pandas, she can’t wait to read it! Except it’s about only one kind of panda, and red pandas are completely left out. Red never gets to read stories about pandas like herself! So she decides to take matters into her own paws and write her own book.

But when Red looks around, it seems like the only kind of pandas the world cares about are the black and white kind. Will anyone want to read about red pandas? It’s up to Red to finish her story and share it with the world!

⤖ My Review ⬻

They say not to judge a book by its cover, but I just couldn’t help myself with How This Book Got Red—it was just so cute! And the cuteness doesn’t stop with the cover either. It continues on into the book—the illustrations, the characters—while also being informative. I don’t want to give it away, but I learned something about pandas that I didn’t know before!

I think that there was also an underlying message about representation in general, and perhaps in the book industry specifically, which I wholeheartedly agree with. I also really appreciate how this message was naturally included as part of the story and in a way that would be palatable for younger readers. I definitely recommend How This Book Got Red to all those intrigued by the cover, synopsis, or even this review, no matter their age or reading level.