This is How You Do It: A Look at Real Children’s Lives and Stories

I have a confession to make—I’ve been spending scandalous amounts time this summer sipping tea (sometimes a probiotic soda) out on my back patio, reading children’s books. Part of the reason is that I live in New England, where we spend an ungodly amount of time each year indoors. By summertime, there’s no place my pale, pasty self would rather be than outside in the natural sunlight and warmth!

But this is not the only reason that in the past couple of months I’ve acquired about one hundred more freckles and neglected my least favorite household chores (dusting, anyone?) in favor of lounging with a beautiful hardcover between my hands. Wonderful publishers, like Chronicle Books, have been sending me advanced reader copies of some of their dynamite new titles for the fall!

This is how I entered the world of Matt Lamothe and Jenny Volvovski books, from which I have yet to emerge. Many of my friends have heard about these books from me already and are eagerly waiting for my review and information on how to order them. But first, go get your favorite beverage and find a sunny spot to sit…I’ll wait for you here!

If you’re sitting by a coffee or end table, I just want to point out that Matt and Jenny’s adult illustrated books are probably THE perfect “coffee table books.” Visually stimulating and featuring browsable, fascinating topics—there’s one on mysterious scientific phenomena, and another on secret sidekicks from world history. They are gorgeously designed and illustrated, which is not surprising given that Matt, Jenny, and their coauthor, Julia Rothman, also own and operate an award-winning design company called ALSO.

But I’m here today to tell you about their children’s books, which might also make absolutely riveting coffee table books for kids (if that’s a thing). All About U.S.: A Look at the Lives of 50 Real Kids from Across the United States, co-written by Matt and Jenny, just released last month from Chronicle Books. It’s the companion to This is How We Do It: One Day in the Lives of Seven Kids from around the World, written by Matt in 2017. The two are satisfyingly consistent with one another, yet refreshingly different.

This is How We Do It is what I would call a children’s documentary in picture book form. It follows seven different children from all over the world—Romeo from Italy, Kei from Japan, Delphine from Uganda, Oleg from Russia, Ribaldo from Peru, Ananya from India, and Kian from Iran—from morning until night on a typical day. Full-bleed, vivid illustrations take center stage here—this is more of a picture book with captions, than the reverse.

Young readers learn about their families, what they eat, where they go to school, what kinds of things they like to do, and in learning such seemingly mundane things about them, they’re able to draw powerful conclusions about what makes them similar and what makes them different. I love that this book has no obvious overarching message, and yet is full of hidden truths the young reader can interpret and define for themselves. Just like real life—condensed onto the pages of a picture book.

Matt is careful to explain in the backmatter that the families featured “follow many of the traditions unique to where they are from, but that doesn’t mean the millions of people who call those same countries home have exactly the same tastes and experiences.” He says, “With the help of friends (and friends of friends of friends) and family, I found seven children who agreed to share their day for this book…the families took pictures of their real breakfasts, homes, classrooms, and families…I then used the photos as references to create all the illustrations you see in this book.”

This book is for the traditional picture book age audience, and even has an activity book to go along with it called This is How I Do It: One Day in the Life of You and 59 Real Kids from Around the World. Also written by Matt and released in 2019, it is an interactive workbook in which kids can enter information, drawings, etc. about themselves to be showcased alongside those of other real-life children from around the world. It allows kids to be involved with the documentary project after reading the original book, which I found very, very cool.

All About U.S. also follows this original formula of a documentary captured on the pages of a picture book. But it’s for a slightly older, middle grade reader, so perhaps one to progress to after reading the first book. And this time, Matt has co-authored with his partner, Jenny. The two are an unstoppable combination of talent!

This book features a child and their respective family from each of the fifty states in the U.S., showing the incredible degree of diversity and humanity that make up our vast country. Young readers get to see varying climates, family structures, and American subcultures.

It will appeal to middle grade readers who are eager for more sophisticated issues and topics, which are, as in the first book, subtly woven throughout the book. Some of the families and children struggle with illness, loss of a parent, and various life transitions that kids will either relate to or learn from. All the families make the best of their respective situations and share their sources of joy with the reader.

For this project, Matt and Jenny not only reached out to an extensive network of contacts throughout the country, but also built an application for interested children and families on their website. Wanting to create an authentic representation of the United States, they consulted data collected by the U.S. Census Bureau and Pew Research Center to help them select the children and their families for the project. This was followed up with video chat interviews of both the children and the adults. In this way, Matt and Jenny were able to observe things for themselves, but also get direct quotes and responses from their participants. As they explain in their backmatter, “In most stories, our favorite moments are the children’s candid remarks. They provide an authenticity you can’t get through description alone.”

You won’t want to miss reading through the backmatter that explains this project, as it is a fascinating read for adults! This is a beautiful, unique book that kids will want to keep picking up and learning new things from. It’s perfect for them to browse through alone or with an adult.

ALL ABOUT U.S.: A LOOK AT THE LIVES OF 50 REAL KIDS FROM ACROSS THE UNITED STATES

by Matt Lamothe and Jenny Volvovski

Hardcover ISBN: 9781797213705

Ages 8-12

Released August 2024

I received ALL ABOUT U.S. for free from Chronicle Books in exchange for a review.

For more information on Matt Lamothe, Jenny Volvovski, and their work, please visit Matt’s website and the website of their design company, ALSO.