“Iz tak unk gladdenboot?” “Unk gladdenboot!”

This 2017 Caldecott Honor picture book leaves a lot to the imagination. Written entirely in seemingly nonsense words, readers follow a group of bugs discover, celebrate, and eventually abandon a flower throughout its life cycle.

Half of the fun of this title is guessing what each bug is saying and what each nonsense word means, what part of language it is, and perhaps making up nonsense dialogue of your own. The other half of the fun is reveling in the wonderful illustrations and learning to connect pictures to text no matter their meaning. Without being heavy handed, Du Iz Tak? hands each reader a lesson in language and storytelling they are sure to never forget!

This title is wonderful for older preschool and younger elementary school students alike, with each age group garnering a different lesson from the text and illustrations.