Description
It’s all about ins and outs!
While a person sleeps inside, a cat climbs out of the open window. Next, a child sits on the swings outside in an empty school playground, but they get picked up and are inside their parent's truck, happy and warm.
As this nearly wordless picture book progresses, the ideas of in and out get expanded to the surprising, the hilarious and the heartwarming. Readers will enjoy trying to guess before the page-flip what exactly each in or out is referring to and take up the playful challenge to look more closely and not make assumptions. A clever picture book with minimal text for kids who enjoy puzzles and think outside the box.
Author Bio
Elizabeth Withey is a journalist, author and visual artist. She grew up in rural Saskatchewan, reading books borrowed from the Wapiti Regional Library. A former Writer in Residence at Edmonton Public Library and staff writer and columnist at the Edmonton Journal, Elizabeth is now a producer for CBC Radio and lives in Calgary. The One with the Scraggly Beard was inspired by Withey’s son’s experience meeting his uncle, who has been living on the street since 2015.
Salini Perera is a Canadian illustrator. She was born in Sri Lanka, raised in Scarborough, Ontario, and has been making art for as long as she can remember. Now she gets to make art for picture books, a lifelong dream come true. She lives in Toronto with her husband and their two cats.
Prizes
- Toronto Public Library (TPL) Ready for Reading First and Best ListCommended 2025
- Canadian Children's Book Centre (CCBC) Marilyn Baillie Picture Book AwardShort-listed 2026
Review Quotes
“With its minimal text, this book invites the toddler and preschool set to make inferences about what’s going on in its immersive artwork. Perera’s textured, collage-like illustrations communicate much without exposition; children will look, linger, and even elaborate on what they see. This book lands solidly at the intersection of developmentally appropriate and quality storytelling. Visually engaging and relevant to little readers.”
— Kirkus Reviews“While most of the spreads have an obvious out or in, some of the later spreads may be more challenging for the book’s young audience. After an initial reading, the book’s adult and child readers can return to the spreads and look for more examples of the target words’ uses. Highly recommended.”
— CM: Canadian Review of Materials“Elizabeth Withey and Salini Perera have imagined a refreshing way to teach the idea of position and get children to think even more deeply about how it can be demonstrated in the most unusual of activities…[Withey] has envisioned fabulous pairings of circumstances that many children will recognize to easily pick up on the concepts of in and out.”
— CanLit for Little CanadiansBiographical note
Elizabeth Withey is a Canadian author, journalist and visual artist. Her first book, The One with the Scraggly Beard, is a story about homelessness inspired by family experiences. She lives in Calgary with her son, her brother, a calico cat and a very silly whippet.
Salini Perera is a Canadian illustrator. She was born in Sri Lanka, raised in Scarborough and has been making art for as long as she can remember. Now she gets to make art for picture books, a lifelong dream come true. She lives in Toronto with her husband Michael and their two cats, Victoria and Alice.
