Awe! It's Everywhere - Perfect Picture Book Friday #PPBF

3 minutes ago
3 min read

I love Chana Stiefel's books! Especially her touching and poignant The Tower of Life, which she created with Susan Gal. So, I was extremely excited to see this book. This dynamic duo has struck gold again. Taking on a large emotion and masterfully capturing it in a lovely, lyrical poem and amazing illustrations, they have explored how this emotion interacts with and permeates our lives. It's a truly Awe-some book!

Book cover - five children standing on a hillside, one with hands open wide and another with a butterfly on their finger.

Awe! It's Everywhere

Author: Chana Stiefel

Illustrator: Susan Gal

Publisher: Scholastic Press (March 3, 2026)

Ages: 4 - 8

Fiction

Themes:

Awe, emotions, positivity, comfort, mystery, and wonder.

Synopsis:

This soul-stirring exploration of that mysterious feeling, awe, is perfect for celebrating big moments or the small wonders in every day. Will appeal to fans of All the World and In Every Life.

Introducing A. W. E., anAwesomeWondrousEmpoweringemotion! When chills travel down your spine, and sudden tears surprise your eyes. When your heart exclaims, “Ooh! Ahh! Whoaaa!” That’s when you know you’ve found AWE.

This breathtaking journey will take you to the Grand Canyon and the deepest reaches of the sea. It will invite you to share moments of giving and to feel the joy of family and community. It will lift you to the highest heights and make your spirit soar.

Experiencing awe has been scientifically proven to spark wonder, improve thinking, and open us up to new ideas. For children living through these turbulent times, Awe! is the perfect book to foster positivity, comfort, joy, and empowerment.

Opening Lines:

A fin!

A tale!

A giant splashing whale!

What's that mind-blowing sensation?

That's . . . .

AWE!

What I LOVE about this book: Beginning on the end pages, with a group of kayakers setting off from a dock and being treated to an amazing moment with a large whale breaching among them,

End page - a large whale breaching among three tandem kayaks and a sighseeing boat as the sun rises.

Text © Chana Steifel, 2026. Image © Susan Gal, 2026.

Chana Stiefel and Susan Gal gently, but impressively, lead the reader through a glorious early morning adventure to the title page!

Title page - on the left the front half of a giant whale, with its eye looking right at the reader and its mouth just under the title - AWE!

Text © Chana Steifel, 2026. Image © Susan Gal, 2026.

This is such a stunningly gorgeous and impressive way to immerse the reader in the experience and emotional feeling of awe, before even opening the book. Chana Steifel's poetic text establishes exactly what emotion the book is examining - "When chills travel down your spine,/and sudden tears surprise your eyes./When you heart exclaims, "Ooh! Ahhh! Whoaaa!"/That's when you know you've found AWE." It can be as small as a butterfly or spider, or as big as . . .

Double gatefold image of the grand canyon, with people stanig behind a guard rail looking out over the magical landscape, two condor soaring , and a rainbow in the background.

a phenomenal gatefold image of the Grand Canyon! For me, this stunning spread, the beautiful one of the Northern lights featured in the interview post (here), and the earlier breaching whale are my favorite spreads. Maybe because I've been in a whale watching boat when a grey whale breached beside us and the Grand Canyon was the last camping trip I ever took with my Mom. And who wouldn't love Susan Gal's portrayal of a silent moment of swirling patterns and colored lights.?

Chana Steifel lyrically features awe in fireworks, "deep,/ dark,/ frightful/. . . delightful" ocean-based moments, architecture, religious celebrations, and ourselves - as we care, assist, and create. The penultimate spread beautifully wraps back to the earlier definition of awe and adds a fun twist. To top it all off, the touching, gorgeous ending wishes everyone their own moments of awe. Back matter includes a combined author & illustrator note and some scientifically awe-some facts. And the back end page is the most perfect wrap to the story, a stunning "final act,"

This is a stunning and wonderfully lyrical concept picture book capturing and sharing the emotion of Awe. Even with all the picture books that explore and delve into various emotions, this book stands out by capturing the essence, universality, and immediacy of Awe. A feeling we can all find in our daily lives. It's magical. You definitely don't want to miss this book!

Resources:

what is something that makes (or made) you pause and exclaim "Ooh! Ahhh!" or "Whoaaa!"? Write a description, draw, or paint a picture of it. Can you explain why it's awe-some?

be sure to check out the educator guide for the book.

If you missed my interview with Chana Stiefel on Monday, find it (here).

This post is part of a series of blog posts by authors and KidLit bloggers called Perfect Picture Book Fridays. For more picture book suggestions and resources see Susanna Leonard Hill's Perfect Picture Books.

If you are in the area, be sure to stop by Books of Wonder for the book launch of AWE!