Piece Out, by Alex Willan, (May 2025, Astra Young Readers), $18.99, ISBN: 9781662620935
Ages 4-8
International Games Month is coming in November! The American Library Association’s Games & Gaming Roundtable has some downloadable resources if you’d like to learn more. This year, I’m hoping to hold a Game Storytime for my library kids, and Piece Out looks like a great storytime choice for younger gamers (and gamers-to-be).
It’s a common occurrence: a game piece gets lost. In Willan’s Piece Out, it’s the key to adventure. A family enjoys their game night when the red piece discovers they’ve been left on the floor! Determined to get back to its box, Red escapes a hungry robot (a vacuum cleaner); discovers long-lost friends (other lost game pieces under the couch), and spends some time in the dreaded junk drawer! Always focused on returning to the Kaflooble box, Red narrates his journey with a grim determination that will make readers laugh as they see the world through Red’s eyes. Willan’s details are a feast for game fans who will love the map of the living room endpapers and the under-the-couch denizens who appear resigned to their life outside the box. The ending will leave readers laughing out loud and ready for the next adventure. Read this to your Toy Story fans.
Mom Read It 