Three Sardines on a Bench is a tiny book full of big, fantastical ideas. It is written by French children’s book author Michaël Escoffier, and illustrated by Kris Di Giacomo. The book itself is like a tin of sardines. Slipping off the cover sleeve and opening the small, hardcover book feels like opening a sardine tin. Inside is the imaginary world created by three sardines, lounging in on a bench in the summertime. “I’ve heard that at the North Pole, it is so cold that bears eat ice-cream, just to stay warm,” one says. “I’ve heard that if you keep looking backwards, you’ll end up going back in time,” says another. Their minds travel through the sky, to the moon, to oceans and beaches, but in the end they are still three sardines in a tin, looking out for a fork.

© Julia Rothman 2007