The whimsical illustrations in this children's book for adults portrays a heartfelt message that all could learn from. I fully enjoyed this story and look forward to sharing it with kids and adults alike. A conversation starter for sure!

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is absolutely brilliant. The artwork, the intent, and the overall vibes for this book are relevant for everyone not just during the pandemic but for anyone walking down the path called life.

Thank you, The Weight of Ink, for the advance reading copy.

I absolutely love the idea behind this book. Maybe the tag for children's picture book sound a bit alien when it comes to books like this but the book has a tag saying that "a Children's Book for Adults" which I feel is the perfect description of this book.

We human beings love control in our lives and we want to control everything to make things work out for us. However, there also comes a time when we cannot control everything and we become frustrated. This is perfectly illustrated in the book. However, we can try to ease things when this particular idea of controlling things go out of hand. The book gives an idea on how we can lessen this problem. I absolutely adore the idea. The illustration is phenomenal as it perfectly shows what the author is trying to convey.

Read this book. It's already out!

The Boy Who Loved Boxes is a short but poignant book that expresses deep concepts like compartmentalizing, control, chaos, and peace with simplicity and warmth. The illustrations are wonderful and draw the reader through the story skillfully by using crisp line work and punches of color to convey emotions and purpose. In a pandemic-induced anxiety riddled world, this comic is both timely and hopeful. Five stars for content and creativity.

This is the book we all need right now. It is a book about trying to stay in control [even if it is stuff we have ZERO control over] and how the Covid-19 pandemic affects that.

This allegory really resonated with me [I have OCD and boxes are one of my most favorite things, often to the detriment of myself, as this book was quick to remind me again] and I think this will reach the exact people it needs to. Beautifully written and illustrated, this book truly is the book we all need right now [I said it twice because it NEEDED to be said again].

It is about grace, relinquishing control and finding peace and that is something that is so needed right now.

Highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Michael Albanese, Todd Wilkerson [Illustrator] and The Weight of Ink for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In this age of "Stuff Shaming" I saw a pattern at the beginning of this book and assumed it would go there too. I am stunned.

Yes, it's also about control, but like "stuff," we are told that even appearing out of control (like having too much stuff) is basically evil.

Thinking about this, how much personal exploration are we stifling to appear in control? Do we only attempt things we're fairly sure we will be good at? Is a little mess bad, or just a different method of storage?

Like the boy/man in the story, do we choose boxes and stuff based on so little information, instead of looking for what we NEED? What will work best for us? Too often, I think so.

I found the ending to be very satisfying, because hiding things away--to provide outer order--also prevents us from seeing them.

Bravo, gentlemen! (Author and illustrator)
And thank you!

5/5 Stars

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the delightful free preview of this ebook. The review is voluntary.

#TheBoyWhoLovedBoxes #NetGalley

It is rare that I read something, especially something so simple, that resonated so deeply. Possibly because I could completely relate with one's life descending into chaos because of the pandemic and having to rearrange my emotional expectations into something new. The illustrations were gorgeous with colors that popped and the message of the story left me feeling hopeful. It only took a few minutes to read but I am glad I did and this truly is a great Children's book for Adults.

This was a really deep book for being so short. I actually read it twice to fully let the message sink in. I loved the bit about the "broken" pieces of yourself being allowed to be so visible in the box.

📦 This one hit so hard 🥹

💬 Have you always had anxiety? Did the pandemic make it worse for you?

📦 I was pregnant during the pandemic. There is no anxiety I’ve ever felt quite like that one. Thinking about the terror I’m bringing this child into the world to deal with with no fault of their own. It weighed heavy.

📦 If there’s anything I love more than children’s books, it’s when they’re for adults. They just dig in that much more!

📦 This book is about a boy who, yes, LOVES boxes. But you come to find out that those boxes have a different purpose as he grows up. They carry his “complicating” things; emotions, feelings, & relationships. Then the world got sick, and his boxes came tumbling down. He needed to figure out a new box, and one that you can see through appeared.

📦 This book is for everyone. It’s written so simply and put together and packs a punch with its meaning and message.

@missbaileysbookworms

This was an interesting adult children's book. I read the whole thing, a bit confused to be honest, but the peace the man found in the end was well worth the read. Such a beautiful story!

This book taught me two things:
1. Adults need their own picture books. Sometimes we need to be told in a roundabout, symbolic way that things are going to be all right, and kids' picture books can do this, but sometimes adults need things that specifically address adult problems.
2. The reader gets to decide what the story means, and one doesn't always need to express that meaning to others. It's okay to not worry about what other people say a story means, and one doesn't need to figure out what the story means if they don't want to. A story can just be.

So, I'll just say this will hit people in different ways, and it might not make sense to some people. That's fine. If it doesn't vibe with you, maybe you didn't need anything from it. Collectively, we all went through some complicated and rough shit, and this is a thought provoking response to that.

#NetGalley