The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore by William Joyce

Morris Lessmore’s love of literature shines through as he finds himself in the company of a room full of books that have been left lonely.  One book flies off the shelf and opens itself as if to invite him to read it and so begins a lifetime of Morris carefully caring for all of the books.  He sometimes spends days lost between the covers of a book.  He lends the books to others, sometimes a beloved story and sometimes one whose story was seldom told.  Morris writes in his own book every night telling his own story once he is done caring for the books that day.  Years pass and soon Morris is an old man and the books he once cared for begin to care for him.  When he finally says goodbye, the books realize Morris’ own book has been left behind.  Then a young girl discovers the books, where Morris’ story flies off the shelf and invites her to read it. 

A beautifully told tale that is truly magical in its execution.  This is a book that any book-lover will want in his/her collection and one of those books whose story needs to be told, not just another volume on the shelf left to collect dust. 

The book is full of wonderful opportunities for vocabulary enrichment (emerge, squadron, fluttering, happenstance), exploring language concepts, and discussions about favorite books and visits to the library. 

The book about books was actually inspired by an award-winning short film, ironically enough. I'm pretty mad I can't get it on Netflix or YouTube or Hulu, but here is a trailer you can enjoy. If you know where to find it (besides purchasing it as I only buy movies that I know I will watch on repeat), please let me know!

AGES: 5 to 10

BOOK BRIEFS:

LC= Language Concepts

O= Open-Ended

U= Underrated Gems

V= Vocabulary Enrichment 

X= X Marks the Spot (Adventure!)