Ping by Ani Castillo (Review)

Title: Ping
Author: Ani Castillo
Type: Fiction
Genre: Children’s, Picture Book
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (Hachette Book Group)
Date published: September 3, 2019

A physical copy of this book was kindly provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

With the visual ingenuity of Press Here and the emotional resonance of What Do You Do with a Problem?, this wise and timely book about the fragile art of personal connection will strike a chord with children and adults alike.

In the era of social media, communication feels both more anxiety-producing, and more inescapable, than ever before. This clever, comforting picture book debut explores the challenges and joys of self-expression and social connection.

Using an imaginative visual metaphor to bring to life how we send out (ping!) and receive (pong!) communications, Ani Castillo’s words and pictures will empower and inspire anyone who has experienced the fear of sharing themselves with the world.

With an artful, accessible package, an eloquent message, and a lot of heart, here is a new classic to bring courage and comfort to humans of all ages.

⤖ My Review ⬻

Ani Castillo’s Ping was a very cute children’s book! And I think that it also contained a very important lesson about communication and how it works. This book refers to face-to-face communication and also digital communication. There’s no doubt that the children of today (and children of the future) will need to learn how to navigate both types of communication.

Ping depicts lessons about how communication works, how a conversation might go, and how to be respectful etc. in a fun and colourful way. I think that this makes the story and its embedded lessons easier to ingest for both children, teens, and adults! I definitely recommend this book and you can know for certain that this is a book that I will be reading and recommending to my future children.

⤖ About the Author ⬻

Ani Castillo is a cartoonist, illustrator, and teacher who was born in Guadalajara, Mexico and now lives in Canada. She is on Instagram at http://www.instagram.com/anicastillo.