Up Down Inside Out

by JooHee Yoon

Up Down Inside Out is another innovative and surprising book from artist and bookmaker JooHee Yoon. This time, she takes up aphorisms and gives them wit and playfulness through visual explanation. Graphically gorgeous and mentally stimulating, this is a book for all ages, as well as for the ages.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Art

64 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2019

Reviews

[BiblioBeruthiel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book lost me with "siamese twins." An editor should have caught and corrected this very outdated term. Other than that I think this would go over the heads of most kids. Flaps are cool.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graphically, this is a very cool book. I follow JooHee Yoon on Instagram, and I love her style. I love the orange and blue color palate, and the illustrations are so interesting and fun. The text in this book is an interesting collection of aphorisms, like an apple a day keeps the doctor away and too many cooks spoil the broth. There were some I had never heard of, and I would not have included the term "Siamese twins" in this book if I were an editor. This feels like it might be best appreciated by art fans as opposed to children. Great artwork, questionable text choices.

[KC · Rating 4 out of 5]

Filled with idioms, lift the flaps, and vivid coloring, this book will certainly be over most kids heads but what better to time to have a chat...

[Antoine Revoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thumbs UP: My favorite picture book of 2019 (along with Cha's TINY FEET BETWEEN THE MOUNTAINS). It is playful, filled with intriguing sayings and idioms to ponder about and, of course, JooHee Yoon's gorgeous artwork, which is head and shoulders above the mainstream kid lit crowd.

Wonderful for repeated readings to discover hidden treats among the drawings and reflect upon the sayings, I would have loved this book as a child!

[MeganRuth - Alohamora Open a Book · Rating 2 out of 5]

I like the idea of taking popular sayings aka aphorisms, illustrated creatively. I think this book is best suited for upper elementary or even middle school/high schoolers. It'd go over the heads of younger kiddos.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not really what I think of when I think of a picture book. Illustrations of popular sayings. The illustrations are fine, but I wouldn't use it for a storytime. Not a lot tying one spread to the next besides the style of the pictures.

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full of lots of common phrases, but one I hadn’t heard “all cats are grey in the dark” good way to introduce kids to aphorisms and explain that words have deeper meaning. The art is creepy at times, but still clever.

[Miriam Hall · Rating 4 out of 5]

Remember we read « kids’ picture books » for the art! The less moralistic and more droll the messages, the better, from our adult pov.

We are in LOVE with this artist and the art in this book is stupendous. The aphorisms were meh at times - old tropes that don’t need to be revitalized, etc.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I originally reserved this for Storytime, thinking it was a book about opposites. But it's not (I didn't actually read it to the kids yet), but it's still a fun one. Some of these figures of speech I hadn't heard (All cats are grey in the dark? Sure?), but it was still an enjoyable read.

[Dylan Teut · Rating 5 out of 5]

Unique.

[Linda Atkinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love!!

[Elizabeth]

Weird.

[kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

eh, the art is nice, but the book is not going to make much sense to 99% of kids

[Pam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't know whether the book makes the aphorisms clearer but the illustrations are fabulous! and the book is fun.

[Erendira · Rating 2 out of 5]

A fun, quick read if you're interested in idioms and how when in visual form, can make you laugh.

[Natalie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful, imaginative art! I love JooHee Yoon’s style.

[Molly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Hm. Visually great; but a weird selection of aphorisms, and some questionable ones. Not sure about how this one snuck onto my to-read list.

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

...okay.

[Rachel Coyne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing! A delight to explore the pictures - so many fun details and expressions. This book is delightful for all ages

[Miss Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Famous saying set to red blue and white toned pictures often with flaps revealing the end of the sayings. Preschool and up

[Lin.Lenora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like the art. Good book to introduce proverbs.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book but my 4 and 6 year olds were not particularly into it, which surprised me.

[YingYu Chen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love her humor & how she composes the elements of the pictures.

[Merrie Hildebrand · Rating 4 out of 5]

The illustrations are lovely! It’s great for someone who loves art and surprises! Would be a fun way to start talking about figurative language for creative littles.

[Madison LibraryBookFamily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Filled with idioms, might be helpful to ELL students to visually imagine. Some of the idioms are out of date and maybe not PC.

[Cherie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The prints are quite nice. The concept is a little flat.

[Andréa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Note: I accessed a digital review copy of this book through Edelweiss.