This spring, I received the gorgeous new picture book, A Little More Beautiful by Sarah Mackenzie and illustrated by Breezy Brookshire. I was enchanted. I made a video celebrating it and intended to do a review for our site immediately. I opened my library at the same time, however, and this beauty was instantly checked out!  And for good reason. It is a gem!

This first offering from Waxwing Books is gorgeous. 

The endpapers are elegant and playful. 

The two-page title page spread is lush and a narrative unto itself. 

The illustration throughout is whimsical and endearing. 

The vignettes on many of the pages are perfectly balanced and invite the reader into thoughtful little stories inside the bigger story. 

This book really is a work of art and true beauty! And this kind of goodness is good for the soul. 

“Lou Alice decided to leave each day more beautiful than she found it.”

Lou Alice is a kind soul who loves to cultivate beauty wherever she goes. But, Lou Alice is getting older, and it is hard for her to live on her own anymore. A “little girl,” who watches Lou Alice as she goes about her work is the only one who notices when Lou Alice moves out of her home and stops tending to the gardens she planted everywhere around town. The “little girl” notices the loss of Lou Alice and decides to do something about it. 

This story is sweet and a wonderful invitation to consider the gifts of older people in our community. But part of what I appreciate most about it is some of the technique. It is clear that Sarah Mackenzie has read a lot of good books and knows what makes them so. 

The “little girl” in this book is nameless. I love that. Lou Alice has a name. But the “little girl” allows us to imagine that we are the little girl and that it is we who are taking up Lou Alice’s work. 

The other technique that I really appreciated in this story is the quiet that settled on the pages after Lou Alice moves to the senior home. Her absence is felt not only by the “little girl” but the reader as well. The illustration explodes with color and movement and joy as the “little girl” takes on the work of Lou Alice. And it is magical. 

I want to applaud Waxwing books on this foundational first offering. We can’t wait to see what they do next!