Over the Shop

by JonArno Lawson, Qin Leng (illustrator)

In a beautifully detailed wordless picture book, a tumbledown building becomes home sweet home for a found family.

A lonely little girl and her grandparent need to fill the run-down apartment in their building. But taking over the quarters above their store will mean major renovations for the new occupants, and none of the potential renters can envision the possibilities of the space—until one special couple shows up. With their ingenuity, the little girl’s big heart, and heaps of hard work, the desperate fixer-upper begins to change in lovely and surprising ways. In this bustling wordless picture book, JonArno Lawson’s touching story and Qin Leng’s gentle illustrations capture all angles of the building’s transformation, as well as the evolving perspectives of the girl and her grandparent. A warm and subtly nuanced tale, Over the Shop throws open the doors to what it means to accept people for who they are and to fill your home with love and joy.

Genres: Picture Books, LGBT, Family, Childrens, Fiction, Friendship, Realistic Fiction

48 pages, Hardcover

Published January 5, 2021

About the author

JonArno is the author of two books of poetry for adults, Love is an Observant Traveller and Inklings, as well as a contributor for The Chechens: A Handbook. The Man in the Moon-Fixer's Mask is his first book for children. He lives in Toronto, Canada, with his wife and two children.

Reviews

[Vannessa Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A little girl and her grandmother are looking for a tenant to rent an apartment in their building over their store. The apartment is so run down no one who has come to take a look will take it on.

One day a couple views the apartment and decides it’s exactly what they want and it makes the little girl very happy. The little girl had fun helping the couple renovate the apartment. Once the couple had their apartment in order they helped out in the store below the apartment. The little girl and the grandmother, and the family became family.

Over The Shop was well written and I like the way the little girl saw happiness in everything.


I like the way illustrator Qin Leng captive the emotions of every character.

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Over the Shop by JonArno Lawson & Qin Leng is a wordless masterpiece.

Contents include:
-an old shop seeing hard times
-an apartment desperate for renovations
-a grandparent in need of a new perspective
-a granddaughter who sees endless potential

This picture book is magical.

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful wordless story with beautifully detailed illustrations by Qin Leng.

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wordless and wonderful!

[Halina Hetman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Книжка про (недобру) бабцю з (доброю) онучкою, які вирішили здавати дуже стару й пошарпану квартиру над своїм магазином. Ніхто не хоче там жити (бо, відповідно до ілюстрацій, апарти потребують капітального ремонту, а краще зносу), окрім пари, яка робить там ремонт, допомагає малому бізнесу і усіляко змінює життя бабці та онучки на краще, незважаючи на супротив і загально незговірливу природу бабки.

Хтось з пари, мабуть, трансгендер, бо саме цій спільноті автор присвятив історію. Вона розказана без жодного слова, самими ілюстраціями (доволі милими), тож мені сподобалася - я люблю мінімалізм в сторітеллінгу. Будемо чесними, більшість коміксів могла би бути краще, ризикни автор подумати, що його читачі достатньо розумні, щоб зрозуміти дії з самої картинки, а не з описів до картинок. Дітей дуже корисно привчати думати змалечку, й німі книжки-картинки в цьому неабияк допоможуть.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lonely little girl living with her grocery store owning grandparent has some new tenants move in who change the small community with their compassion, dedication and heart.

Look out for the sweet kitty and the paint job.

A very cute and heartfelt wordless picture book, featuring beautiful Qin Leng illustrations.

[Ken Yuen · Rating 5 out of 5]

No words, but pictures say a thousand words. Just awww, very heartwarming

[Michele Knott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't go too quickly through this wordless picture book. So many lessons on kindness and acceptance found within the frames.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is part of my 365 Kids Books challenge. For an explanation see my review for 101 Amazing Facts about Australia You can see all the books on their own shelf.

The cover grabbed me. One of the worst things about cities and towns built to suit cars rather than people is the shopping center or mall. I like a street with a shop on it and with offices and housing upstairs. The reason people feel safe in older downtowns is the presence of people all the time, which I am delighted to see is coming back as a thing.

Any way, this is a lovely wordless book in which the energy of a young couple reinvigorates a neighborhood. It's a little refresh, not gentrification. It's lovely to see it play out. And there's a cat. Also, a refreshing lack of gender marking. Without words there's very little effort to define genders or relationships, there's just a couple of skirts. Just the warm feeling of people becoming closer across all demographics.

Library copy

[Ellon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm in the minority here it seems like but I didn't really care for this wordless picture book. I think that might be because I didn't really like the illustration style and the illustrations were the only thing there! It also seemed to go on for a bit. A young girl and a grandparent are trying to rent out the apartment above the shop but it needs lots of work. It seems as though when a interracial couple seems interested, the grandparent takes the sign out of the window. But the girl convinces her to give them a chance. The new couple renovates the space and the group become a family. That part of the story is sweet but I'm still not loving it overall.

[Chance Lee · Rating 2 out of 5]

There is a lot to like here in the artwork, but that grandparent better be letting the young couple live rent-free in that crappy apartment. Considering how much work they put into the place, there should also be some sort of profit-sharing agreement in place.

[Shiloah · Rating 2 out of 5]

We “read” this wordless book as a family. It was challenging trying to figure out all that was happening.

[Mary Judy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Each line, tone and position of the figures…every page brings feeling and flow in this gentle, moving story of family, friendship, support, diversity and building a community. The delicate, deft hand of the illustrator allows the transformation of the old, bedraggled building to wash over us with a tender insight and observation, succinct details and minute shifts of colour. And this shows off the change in the characters themselves. The grandparent begins as old, cranky, disappointed with the way things are. The little girl is obviously lonely, but slowly shines with a hopeful determination. Potential renters come and go, clearly thinking the flat is a lost cause; and perhaps it is until the right people come along and change everything. As the story grows, the colours gradually brighten, the facial expressions and even the postures of the characters lift and relax. The visuals flow across page after page to bring an understanding of the joy that is blooming as this diverse community of people come together. The shop itself, not really dirty or disheaveled, but certainly lack-luster and dull, has a new life injected into it and it gradually becomes welcoming and intriguing. Even the scruffy alley cat turns into a beloved pet. The entire mood of the story shifts, allowing us to experience in a few short pages the patient, steady timeline across which the transformation of house to home, convenience shop to bustling community, strangers to friends and, eventually family: moving and meaningful, it is a poignant and joyous celebration of the power of community and acceptance to transform.

[Sandy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a sweet book! Looking for a tenant for the room above her general store, grandmother puts a sign in the window and waits. Both the little girl who lives with grandmother and grandma are hopeful but all the individuals who inquire about the apartment don’t see the potential that the dingy apartment possesses. Frustrated, grandmother is finished showing the apartment when a couple shows up and they want to rent it.

They work hard to get the apartment livable but they don’t stop there. They perform their magic outside their living space and soon others are benefiting from their love.

Make sure you pay close attention to all the details in the illustrations to fully enjoy it. From the facial expressions, to the shading, to the spacing, to the flag flying, everything becomes important when you read a wordless book. This book is definitely worth checking out.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A girl and her grandparent rent out a room above their grocery store to a young couple who not only transform the apartment but also the lives of their neighbors. The lovely ink-and-watercolor illustrations tell a compelling story about the big difference kindness can make in changing hearts and minds.

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 5 out of 5]

A girl and her grandmother want to rent out the apartment over their store, but it's such a run-down space that no one wants it. Then the girl finds a way to promote the apartment to just the right couple, and there is a new feeling of companionship there.

A gentle story of friendship and the subtle nudges that get us where we need to be.

[Kristin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is such a beautiful story! I immediately went back and read it a second time. Besides important conversations of family, acceptance, and identity that could be fostered, this wordless picture book would also be great in a classroom for inferencing, predicting, foreshadowing, cause & effect...

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet picture book about taking chances and letting people and goodness into your life.

[Emily Duchon · Rating 3 out of 5]

a charming story but the illustrations were hard to follow as an adult; can't imagine a child being able to decipher them.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Utterly charming wordless picture book.

[Mary Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

A richly-layered wordless book that invites rereading to study characters and setting. A wise story about the ways our chosen family can change us.

[Elo · Rating 5 out of 5]

emoji qui retient ses larmes avec un sourire

[Aeicha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Author JonArno Lawson and illustrated Qin Leng have crafted a beautiful wordless picture book so full of joy, hope, love, and surprises. Little readers will have so much fun exploring each detail filled page and coming up with their own wonderful stories.

[Celine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely magnificent. Full of nuance and gentleness and meaning. The illustrations are gorgeous.

[Lynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly lovely wordless story told in charming detailed illustrations by Quin Leng.

I loved this! A great start for 2021 reading.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young girl and her grandparent run a small general store. In an effort to rent the space above the store, a sign in placed in the window. But the apartment isn't in good shape and visitor after visitor leave in a hurry. Finally, a young biracial couple arrive and take the apartment. This lovely wordless tale follows the couple as they fix up the place. But not only do they fix up the apartment, they bring cheerfulness and friendliness into the lives of the girl, her grandparent, and their neighbor. Some of the illustrations are fairly small making this a hard book to share with a group, but it's a cozy read for a child or adult and child. The illustrations are expressive and lovely with lots of details to look t and enjoy.

[Alex Baugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this wordless intergenerational story, a young girl lives with her grumpy grandparent in a rather run down building with their general store on the ground floor, where the granddaughter helps out when not in school. There's a alley cat who is the grandparent's nemesis, but to whom the girl brings cans of food. Above the shop is an empty apartment that they need to rent. A for-rent sign is hung in the window and a variety of people come, look, and leave. Until one day, a mixed race couple come to look at the apartment and decide to rent it, and though grumpy grandparent doesn't seem to want them, the granddaughter does. Slowly but surely the couple fix up the apartment throughout the fall and winter, with the girl's help and when spring comes round, the work is done, and even the little balcony attached to the apartment is alive with window boxes and plants. Next thing you know, the couple is helping out in the store and the girl is so happy, she even manages to lure the cat up to the apartment where it finds a home. What I really loved about this book was watching how the grumpy grandparent's face changes over the course of the story to one that is happy and smiling by the end, demonstrating how important it is to have caring friends and neighbors. Because this book is wordless, readers need to rely on the wonderfully detailed ink and watercolor illustrations to see to story's progression. Interestingly, the dedication is to trans activists of all ages. I just love the subtleness of gender in this book about inclusiveness.

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely wordless picture book to show how neighbours become a community. Things I enjoyed: the grandparent's gender is not specified, the dedication to trans activists in the front pages, the rainbow bits indicating the couple's queerness (possible transness, though the specific trans flag was not used), the kindess of the kid towards the cat, the nosy neighbour joining the party. Beautiful illustrations, great story. A fantastic one for parents to read with their kids and talk about what is happening on all the pages, and for starting a conversation about community, making changes to things that are not ideal, and helping others. Could also be used in a classroom to start discussions on these topics as well.

[Calyn Joy]

A little girl lives with her grandmother above their store. Over the course of this wordless book, they rent out another room to a couple and make the shop a more cheerful place.
I like all the little background details, the grandmother becoming less crabby, the little girl taming a cat.
This book would be a good book to work on the elements of stories. Maybe a group could work together to write descriptions of what is happening on each page.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars -- Sweet and charming wordless story about a rundown apartment above an old-fashioned grocery store, a couple looking for a place to live, a little girl, and her grandmother. (And a cat!) Kids will enjoy creating their own story to go with the illustrations.