Yak and Dove

Illustrated by Esmé Shapiro
Look inside
Hardcover
$18.99 US
10.94"W x 9.69"H x 0.42"D  
On sale Sep 19, 2017 | 56 Pages | 9781770494947
Preschool - 3
Reading Level: Fountas & Pinnell L
Sometimes the unlikeliest friends form the greatest friendships. A funny, charming picture book from a dynamic duo.

Friends Yak and Dove are complete opposites. Yak is large and Dove is small. Yak has fur and Dove has feathers. Yak is polite. Dove is ill-mannered. Yak likes quiet. Dove likes noise. One day as Yak and Dove list their differences they come to the conclusion that maybe they aren't meant to be friends. In the hope of finding a new best friend, Yak holds auditions. But when a small feathered contestant sings Yak's favorite song, the two begin to think that maybe they are alike after all . . .

Yak and Dove whimsically captures the highs and lows of friendship through the three interconnected tales of two very different friends.
KYO MACLEAR is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and children's author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages and published in over twenty-five countries. She is the author of the hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017), winner of the Trillium Book Award. Kyo holds a doctorate in environmental humanities and is on faculty at the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA.
View titles by Kyo Maclear
ESMÉ SHAPIRO grew up in Laurel Canyon, California and Ontario, Canada, and is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. Her previous picture books include Ooko, which was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award in 2016, Alma and the Beast, Carol and the Pickle-Toad and, most recently, My Self, Your Self, which has received two starred reviews. Esmé also illustrated Yak and Dove by Kyo Maclear, Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton by Margaret McNamara and A Garden of Creatures by Sheila Heti. She has exhibited at the Society of Illustrators, and her work has been featured in Taproot and Plansponsor magazines. Esmé lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, Daniel, and their two dogs. View titles by Esmé Shapiro
  • WINNER | 2017
    IODE Jean Throop Book Award
One of Book Riot's 38 Children’s Book Gift Ideas for Clueless Grown-Ups (Winter 2018)
An Amazon "Best of the Month" Pick (September 2017)

Quill & Quire Best Kids' Book of the Year (2017)
One of Globe and Mail's 100 Best Books of 2017

PRAISE FOR Yak and Dove:

"[A] much-needed favor to humanity in reminding us of what it takes to find, keep and take good care of true friends. . . . I smiled as I read the opening words of Yak and Dove . . . Every page of Esmé Shapiro’s art is suitable for framing." --Peter Reynolds, The New York Times

"[A]uthor Kyo Maclear and illustrator Esmé Shapiro are an unassuming comedic dream team. . . . The two make a dynamite, inventive pair and they infuse the tried-and-true odd-couple premise of Yak and Dove with bursts of irresistibly sweet weirdness. . . . The story is a fresh friendship fable full of genuine kook and authentic feeling." --STARRED REVIEW, Quill & Quire

"Odd-couple friendships are nothing new in children’s literature, but seldom is one portrayed with the grace and sly humor Maclear and Shapiro bring to this story." --STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly

"The humor and whimsical nature of the entries are enhanced by the watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations… Yak and Dove will find a spot on the shelf amongst animal friendship stories." --School Library Journal

"Sweet and just a little bit silly, and accompanied by Shapiro's enchanting watercolour illustrations, Maclear's latest captures the frustrating absurdities and lovely payoffs that come with the most intimate of friendships." --Globe and Mail

"4/4… Yak and Dove is a story of love, a story of relationships, curious and conventional. Maclear injects a lot of humour into the text... Esmé Shapiro’s quiet, but playful, illustrations are a delightful complement to the text... Highly recommended." --CM Magazine

About

Sometimes the unlikeliest friends form the greatest friendships. A funny, charming picture book from a dynamic duo.

Friends Yak and Dove are complete opposites. Yak is large and Dove is small. Yak has fur and Dove has feathers. Yak is polite. Dove is ill-mannered. Yak likes quiet. Dove likes noise. One day as Yak and Dove list their differences they come to the conclusion that maybe they aren't meant to be friends. In the hope of finding a new best friend, Yak holds auditions. But when a small feathered contestant sings Yak's favorite song, the two begin to think that maybe they are alike after all . . .

Yak and Dove whimsically captures the highs and lows of friendship through the three interconnected tales of two very different friends.

Author

KYO MACLEAR is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and children's author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages and published in over twenty-five countries. She is the author of the hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017), winner of the Trillium Book Award. Kyo holds a doctorate in environmental humanities and is on faculty at the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA.
View titles by Kyo Maclear
ESMÉ SHAPIRO grew up in Laurel Canyon, California and Ontario, Canada, and is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design. Her previous picture books include Ooko, which was nominated for a Governor General's Literary Award in 2016, Alma and the Beast, Carol and the Pickle-Toad and, most recently, My Self, Your Self, which has received two starred reviews. Esmé also illustrated Yak and Dove by Kyo Maclear, Eliza: The Story of Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton by Margaret McNamara and A Garden of Creatures by Sheila Heti. She has exhibited at the Society of Illustrators, and her work has been featured in Taproot and Plansponsor magazines. Esmé lives in the Hudson Valley with her husband, Daniel, and their two dogs. View titles by Esmé Shapiro

Awards

  • WINNER | 2017
    IODE Jean Throop Book Award

Praise

One of Book Riot's 38 Children’s Book Gift Ideas for Clueless Grown-Ups (Winter 2018)
An Amazon "Best of the Month" Pick (September 2017)

Quill & Quire Best Kids' Book of the Year (2017)
One of Globe and Mail's 100 Best Books of 2017

PRAISE FOR Yak and Dove:

"[A] much-needed favor to humanity in reminding us of what it takes to find, keep and take good care of true friends. . . . I smiled as I read the opening words of Yak and Dove . . . Every page of Esmé Shapiro’s art is suitable for framing." --Peter Reynolds, The New York Times

"[A]uthor Kyo Maclear and illustrator Esmé Shapiro are an unassuming comedic dream team. . . . The two make a dynamite, inventive pair and they infuse the tried-and-true odd-couple premise of Yak and Dove with bursts of irresistibly sweet weirdness. . . . The story is a fresh friendship fable full of genuine kook and authentic feeling." --STARRED REVIEW, Quill & Quire

"Odd-couple friendships are nothing new in children’s literature, but seldom is one portrayed with the grace and sly humor Maclear and Shapiro bring to this story." --STARRED REVIEW, Publishers Weekly

"The humor and whimsical nature of the entries are enhanced by the watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil illustrations… Yak and Dove will find a spot on the shelf amongst animal friendship stories." --School Library Journal

"Sweet and just a little bit silly, and accompanied by Shapiro's enchanting watercolour illustrations, Maclear's latest captures the frustrating absurdities and lovely payoffs that come with the most intimate of friendships." --Globe and Mail

"4/4… Yak and Dove is a story of love, a story of relationships, curious and conventional. Maclear injects a lot of humour into the text... Esmé Shapiro’s quiet, but playful, illustrations are a delightful complement to the text... Highly recommended." --CM Magazine

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