This book will appeal to young book lovers and their book loving parents! It’s a colourful and fun read with lots of ideas!
What would you put in your library?

I am always attracted to a book with “library” in its title and therefore requested this picture book as soon as I saw it on NetGalley. Having spent some time looking at library design as part of my professional librarian course, I give So You Want to Build a Library a big thumbs up; author Lindsay Leslie and illustrator Aviel Basil have totally captured the playful, interactive aspects that attract youngsters to the library and keep them returning!

The story follows the vivid imagination, obviously fed by her reading habit, of a young girl who believes that:

There is no better place on Earth than where stacks and stacks of books are kept - the LIBRARY

...and who wishes to build her own, with an impressive number of extravagant features. As she chooses her location, gathers materials and friends, including a helpful giant, and begins to build, her whimsical design cannot fail to delight. The simple text is colourfully brought to life by fantastic, full page illustrations in an ice-cream palette and I found myself longing to curl up in the “biggest, cushiest, floofiest chair” with an ice-cream from the sundae bar and a book! Everyone is catered for in this inclusive temple of books, from dragons to teeny, tiny fairies and I’m certain that young readers if not older librarians will be enthralled by the idea of zip lines and water slides!

A charming picture book for children of 3-6 which presents a lovely image of the joy and adventure to be found inside the library and the books within.

So You Want to Build a Library is due to be published on 3rd February 2022, I am very grateful to Raintree Publishers and NetGalley for allowing me access to an advanced electronic edition in exchange for an honest review.

This was so adorable. I can see lots of conversation occuring between adults and children about what constitutes the best library and it really involving the cold imagination.
The illustrations were beautiful and comical as well as adding a lovely touch of whimsy to things.
Loved it.

This book is a great celebration of books and libraries, filled with vibrant and imaginative illustrations and rich text.

This is a wonderful story for children that celebrates the wonders of a library and the joy of reading. Let your imagination run wild! Full of bright illustrations that fill the page and you mind.

This library sounds amazing and definitely a place I would love to visit!
Great book, that really went with it in terms of a child's idea of what a perfect library would be.
Great little book, with colourful and cute illustrations too.

#SoYouWantToBuildaLibrary brought the kid in me out while I was reading it with my son. This has been so entertaining and colourful. It talks about one of my personal favourite place in the world - Libraries. If I could live in a library and just read books everyday for a living I would definitely do that. This is a great story about creating a library by using ones imagination. It also teaches you that a bit of imagination can take you anywhere you want to go. The illustrations were also very cute and can't wait to grab our own copy of this book. It's just so pretty. We'd love to add this in our own mini library as well. Once again thank you to #NetGalley and #RaintreePublishers for giving us an advanced digital reader's copy of this book in exchange for a genuine review.

This book speaks to my book loving heart entirely. Yes I love books and I would love to own my own library- or build one just as in the story..
A library filled with books for everyone, with space for all shapes and sizes.
This enchanting book is colourful, bright and filled with all things bookish- what more could any voracious reader want?
I loved the premise of loving all the books, the characters and wanting them to have a space for others to come and enjoy those things, This would be the perfect read aloud for first library visits with your class and for dreaming about where we love to read.
A perfect book! I will be buying this one for home and school!

Who wouldn’t want to build their very own library? While most libraries don’t have a sundae bar or a bathtub, they are just as magical as the one being built in this lovely book.

I found this book to be an easy read with plenty of opportunities to add emphasis and emotion when reading aloud. The illustrations are also fun and lively without being too complicated.

I would definitely recommend this book and featuring it in displays.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This is a lovely book about the wonder of libraries and how you might choose to design your own. After choosing where you want your library to be and with a little help from some fairies and giants, you can fill your library with all different kinds of books, before adding some finishing touches. A sundae bar? Dragons? A huge water slide? Why not! This book is great fun and will no doubt lead to lots of readers desperate to plan their own library!

How would you build your own library? Bricks or wood? Or with giants and dragons? In this wondrous tale, your library can include everything you wish - yes, even a sundae bar. With the help of a few friendly giants, fairies and knights, your library is ready to use.

Lyndsey Leslie has written a warm, entertaining and imaginative book about the best place on earth - Libraries. A wonderful tale of building a library with the best tool- imagination. The text is easy to read and keeps the reader hooked throughout, complimented by clear and cute illustrations. A great way to promote library visits and reading.

So You Want to Build a Library reminds me of when I asked young students to design the new library the school was building. Such imagination, just like the young girl in this book. If you want to discuss imagination, design and carrying through ideas, this a fun book to start with.

Today we sat down on the sofa, snuggled up and read 'So You Want To Build A Library?' by Lindsay Leslie.

Here is what we thought...

Bella - 10/10

I just loved libraries to be honest, so this book was perfect for me - i DO love books, i DO love the characters in books, I am just CRAZY on books and if you have read my other reviews, you'll already know that.

I love how they haven't made it a normal library but made it a FUN library with ice cream, a bath and a squishy sofa! It looks like my dream library.

It would take me hours to tell you all the amazing things about this book, so you should just buy it and find out for yourself!


Charlie - 9/10

This was a really fun book that was perfect for Bella the Bookworm.

Libraries are being shut down across England, a reality us three know all too well - Bella has recently been on a peaceful protest in our local town & SAVED our library. She loved reading this book and seeing how fun and exciting libraries, and reading can be! I hope this encourages young children to read and visit libraries!

As a librarian this book explains easily how to build a library, that a little bit of imagination will take you wherever er you want to go

Lovely picture book - can’t wait to have a copy for my own classroom. I can picture lessons that I can get from this text already - it’s wonderful!

Libraries are magical places, and we all want to have one that reflects our own personality. Or maybe that is just me? Nah, of course we all do! Let your imagination run free with the vivid colours & glorious illustrations, and wonder at the endless possibilities that our creativeness can give us. And of course enjoy the delightful dragons and sloths because who doesn’t want to have a dragon and a sloth as friends?

A fun story for encouraging the wonders of reading to a very young audience.

So you want to build a library. Where? Who will help? What will be in it?
These questions are asked, but never doubting the person - the reader - that one will be build. It's more like collection ideas, because all ideas are good. Not only is the idea nice, the actual book feels very empowering, doesn't talk down. Of course, not every idea is that great, like a bathtub in the middle of the library where books could get wet, but this is not about actual plan making, but for dreaming, brainstorming, having fun.

I liked especially the subtle hint to the existence of non binary people.
(Books: For her. For him. For them.)

The illustrations are adorable, colourful, detailed but not overwhelming.
I would gift this to a toddler in my life, if I had a toddler in my life or the money. Would totally read more by the author.

The arc was provided by the publisher.

Such a lovely colourful book about building a library and all the wonderful things you could fill it with. I think children will really enjoy this because it's colourful and the illustrations are super cute. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A fun book for young children who love books! The story about buiding teh library and filling it with all favourite things is enjoyable and humours, whereas illustrations by Aviel Basil are bright and not too overcrowded, perfect for teh story. Personally I was not keen on teh second person narration used here, but it could possibly help a young reader to engage!

A funny book that would appeal to many young children who have big ideas about the world they want to live in. Even as an adult, I was reading and thing what a great idea that is for adding to a library! I now want to build a dream library of my own! a fab book for encouraging children to think about how they use a library and for fantasising about dream spaces. Would be a good series of building other things. A great book to add to any library.