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Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg only likes what he likes: round food in the morning, alphabet noodles, red apples, parents who stay home, his cat, yellow-and-white houses, and a bright light in his room at night. But each day of the week, one of his original notions is shattered as his list of what is acceptable grows. He discovers that rectangular waffles, squiggly macaroni, and even a different baby-sitter can be enjoyable. Jewish New Year at home and going to Grandma's for the Sabbath also help broaden the youngster's horizons. Baer bombards readers with unusual illustrations. She uses found images to create cut-paper pictures, achieving a panoply of designs that calls for hours of perusal. The collages are each framed, and the borders and backgrounds are filled with mosaics and shapes that often reflect the text, as when Dewey talks about his preference for noodles formed like letters. The colors and shadows on the characters' faces resemble what Chuck Close achieves using photography. An endnote states the publisher's aim to "make books that don't fall into the normal order of things," and this tour de force achieves that goal. Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg is not the only one who discovers new things here. Readers do, too, among these extraordinary images.
Marianne Saccardi, School Library Journal
Bollix Books makes its debut as publisher of this clever picture book. Author-illustrator Julie Baer's full page collages are its most prominent feature, creating impressionistic portraits of a little boy's willingness to change his mind. Throughout the narrative, Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg states emphatically that he only likes what he likes, including round food in the morning, red apples, yellow and white houses like his own, and the big, overhead light in his bedroom turned on all night long. Then Daddy makes rectangular waffles and “I ate three!” Mommy cuts up red and green and yellow apples for Jewish New Year and “I got to squeeze the honey bear!” He visits Grandma’s eleven story apartment building to light the candles and eat pizza on Shabbat, and goes to sleep with a shining seashell nightlight. Each vignette is illustrated with a full page picture – described as cut-paper collages using found imagery and hand-painted rice paper – filled with vivid colors, lines, shapes, faces, and human and animal images, each surrounded by a border and resembling quilts. The effect is both personal and symbolic, drawing the reader into a young child's imaginative perceptions of his small world. The Jewish content is presented as a natural and integral – if not major - part of that world.
Linda R. Silver, Jewish Book World
Experiencing something new is the theme of this picture book. Dewey claims that he only likes things that are familiar, but every day of the week brings a new experience that he ends up enjoying. These experiences are minor things like trying a new food but for young children such incidents can indeed be groundbreaking. The story is told in the first person and Dewey's voice is authentically childlike; he refers to new characters as if we should know who he's talking about, just as a real child assumes that everyone shares his world. This unique approach works because readers can use context to understand Dewey's references. Two incidents during Dewey's week tell us that he is Jewish: he tries green and yellow apples when his family dips them in honey for the Jewish New Year, and he learns to like apartment buildings when visiting his grandmother for "Sabbath pizza" on Friday. While the Jewish content is not integral to the story, it serves several interesting functions. It can be viewed as part of the unusual hyper-authenticity of the story, in that Dewey is not transformed into an Everychild but retains a particular identity. It can also be seen as a response to the problem posed by June Cummins in her paper at the 2001 AJL Annual Convention, the problem of the dearth of contemporary Jewish children "in settings that represent their daily lives." While readers will not learn much about Judaism from Dewey, they will expand their horizons by reading about a regular kid who happens to be Jewish. Baer's artwork is gorgeous. Complex combinations of painting and collage grace each page with rich colors, unusual points of view, and beautiful borders... This book will probably be most successful in settings where adults read it aloud to 3-4 year old children...
Heidi Estrin, Association of Jewish Libraries Newsletter
Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg only likes what he likes! However, after he tries something new such as eating square-shaped food instead of round-shaped food for breakfast, he finds that he likes it - a lot!
As a mother of three children, I know what it is like to have a child who is afraid to try something new. When children read or are read this delightful book, they will learn that trying something new is not that scary after all. They will also discover that it is okay to like what you like - right now, because someday they just may try something new - and like it, just as Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg did.
Baer is not only the author she is also the illustrator of I ONLY LIKE WHAT I LIKE. Each page in her impressively fun children's book explodes in a collage-style design with rich, vivid color. The end result - a dazzling children's book that will appeal to children and adults alike.
This reviewer and her children thoroughly enjoyed I ONLY LIKE WHAT I LIKE written by a gifted author and illustrator named Julie Baer.
Reviewer's Bookwatch
"I only like red apples," declares Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg, a small boy in a dinosaur T-shirt who is wary of anything unfamiliar—until a Rosh Hashana celebration introduces him to the pleasures of green and yellow apple slices. Plus, he adds, "I got to squeeze the honey bear!"
On each page, Dewey deigns to try something new—"squiggly green macaroni" in place of "noodles shaped like letters"; playing ball with the "scary neighbor-cat" instead of his "brother-cat Mookie"—and is pleasantly surprised by the results. Baer adds depth to the book's very simple premise with her imaginatively detailed cut-paper collages, and young readers who identify with Dewey's strong opinions may also inherit some of his adventurous spirit.
Nextbook
It's a good book because I liked grandma's big house. I like it that Dewey just likes what he likes. Dewey and his dad are the main characters. The book is about Dewey and what he likes. The pictures are really good and colorful. I would recommend that people would probably like the book. Eli Friedman is a first-grader at Dennis Chavez Elementary School.
From a parent's point of view, this book includes concepts like shapes, the Jewish New Year and the Sabbath. The days of the week were mentioned in such a subtle way that Eli didn't even notice it. Like Eli, I also enjoyed the way the book shows that Dewey just likes what he likes. It's a lighthearted and unusual look at what is often an obstinate period in a child's life. When Dewey says he only eats round food in the morning, it made me smile. We both enjoyed the book.
Eli Friedman and Rebeca Zimmermann, The Albuquerque Journal
Written and illustrated by Julie Baer for children ages 3 to 8, I Only Like What I Like is the story of Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg, a young boy who is strict and severe in his personal preferences. Dewey only likes apples that are red, one certain black-and-white cat, noodles shaped like letters on Monday, and so forth. But sometimes Dewey is faced with new foods, new things, and new challenges that he has never seen before - what is a boy to do? A distinctive style of slightly discordant color illustrations enhances this entertaining and very strongly recommended parable about learning to adapt to change.
The Midwest Book Review
Dewey is a bit like any other child…he "only likes what [he] likes." But each time he makes a claim to one such "only" thing he likes, he finds he quite likes something else too! For example, first he says he only likes round food in the morning, but then when the waffles emerge rectangular, he finds he really enjoys them! There are other things like this he experiences, including one connected to the Jewish new year – eating apples in honey. He thinks he "only like[s] red apples…" but then he eats red, green and yellow apples…which he also enjoys! While he normally hates his parents going out, he has such fun with Boppa that he wonders why his parents have to come home so early. Objective: To teach children to expand their horizons…there is so much one can enjoy; one does not just have to stick with one thing. Ironically, this is probably an even greater lesson for adults who all too often get stuck in their routine. Always try something new is the lesson of this book. Comments: Stunningly illustrated in mosaic, collage form, this book is beautiful for many reads, not just one. Use: For children, adults, families – anyone willing to be open to lessons of expanding horizons. Keywords: CHILDREN; STORIES; ROSH HASHANA; SHABBAT. Categories: EDUCATION; JUDAISM; SHABBAT & FESTIVALS; CULTURE
Emma Sass, DataJem, The Database of Jewish Educational Materials
With colorful, cultural multi-image pages and a spunky boy who "only likes what I like," this artful tale about learning to adapt to change is a smart read for kids 3 to 8. Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg only likes rounded food in the morning (but confesses to eating three rectangle waffles one day). Dewey harbors a preference for one baby sitter, but loves it when his "Boppa" comes over to pop corn and paint faces while Mom and Dad are out. He also only likes his "brother-cat Mookie," but plays ball with "the scary neighbor-cat" one Thursday and has fun doing so. Children set in their ways or going through inflexible periods will learn a little from Dewey - and parents will love Baer's healthy message and intriguing artwork.
Copley News Service
I Only Like What I Like, written and illustrated by Julie Baer, is that rarity, a contemporary picture book in which the character happens to be Jewish. Lush and exciting art and a realistic and engaging story about a small boy make this book a winner.
HANNAH GESHELIN, Jewish Journal
Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg is a controlling little guy with a great imagination. He knows a good thing when he sees it though, and is always looking for new ways to "like" the unfamiliar. When he doesn't get what he wants, he imagines it is something else. That way he stays in charge--and gets to eat his honeyed apples--without giving in to the grown-ups. Minimal text and cut-out collage set a young child's struggle for identity against a backdrop of Jewish custom. Baer's images are most successful with animals and objects. Her colors are warm and comforting. Her words describe Friday night candles and Sabbath pizza, and share inside jokes between a parent and child. Written in first person (with a perspective switch at bedtime), Dewey shows families how to stay flexible and welcome new experiences together. Also a nice title for teachers and media specialists in search of kindergarten stories at Rosh Hashanah.
Tina Dybvik, Children's Literature
The beginning of Julie Baer's delightful picture book seems simple enough, but it soon becomes clear that Dewey Jackson Braintree Berg is a much more complex and adaptable boy than he would have us believe. Dewey insists that he only likes noodles shaped like letters, but at a dinner party manages to enjoy squiggly green macaroni by pretending that they are moray eels. While he maintains that he only likes his yellow-and-white house, he discovers that his grandmother's apartment building has eleven floors and as many buttons to push int he elevator. The most remarkable thing about "I Only Like What I LIke" is the artwork. Baer creates colorful, slightly fractured, striking collages assembled entirely from found imagery. This wonderful book is perfect for picky children, as well as a great way to involve them in making collages, a cheap and fun creative activity.
Holly Myers, Elliot Bay Books, Seattle, WA
This book covers a week in the life of Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg, a youngster who only likes what he likes and the discovery that sometimes trying new things can actually be fun. The jewel-like mosaic pictures and the sometimes unique perspective, like when the cat is reaching up toward the reader to catch the ball, adds to the story of a common childhood dilemma.
WGN-TV Chicago's Morning News, Best Books for Kids, and Magic Tree Bookstore.
Ever known (or been) a determined contrarian like Dewey? The good news is, life happens and Dewey mellows. Julie Baer’s collages...like Dewey, are distinctive.
Mary Harris Russell, Chicago Tribune
A Gentle Lesson: A Little Boy Who Only Likes What He Likes Learns to Like Much More. Julie Baer is an original illustrator but she also knows children. I Only Like What I Like is both gentle and humorous. Even small children will be amused and understand-oh, so gently-that being too adamant about one's likes might eliminate much that is good in life, might paint you into a corner that can't be exited all that gracefully. I also like that the illustrations allow a parent and child to talk about artistic expression. Does the little boy-one Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg-look like a real child? Yes…and no. How do you suppose this picture was made? Paint? What is a collage? Look at the colors! How did the artist use shapes? In short, this book written and illustrated by Julie Baer, is a winner! You and your child will enjoy chuckling over it for many evenings to come!
Carolyn Howard-Johnson, MyShelf.com
Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg knows just what he likes. He only likes "round food in the morning," he only likes "my brother-cat Mookie," and he only likes to have the “great big light” turned on at bedtime. This is a little boy who is very certain about what he likes, and yet it would seem that things can change on occasion. For example Dewey finds himself liking a lot of other things which don’t quite fit into his “only like” list. What about the neighbor’s cat who plays so well with a ball and who is not Mookie? Then there is the new night light that Daddy gets for him. Dewey likes it enough to turn off that “great big light.” Funny and understanding of the ways of the very young, this book will resonate very well with little children. They will remember the time when they only liked macaroni, or only liked having their panda sleep with them. The book will also give hope to parents who wonder and puzzle at the strange "only like" trends of their children. The author has also created one-of-a-kind art for the book; each page is bright with cut-paper collage pictures that are full of detail. Children will also enjoy finding Mookie the cat in the artwork.
Marya Jansen-Gruber, Editor, Through The Looking Glass Children's Book Review
Baer's arrestingly elaborate cut-paper mosaics draw so much attention to themselves... Intricately wrought from hand-painted rice paper and ephemera... Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg, the child who "only likes what [he] likes," relates seven short anecdotes about accepting new experiences. "I only like round food in the morning," he announces. His father convinces him to mix up some waffle batter, "and when we finally opened up the waffle cooker, out came rectangles! I ate three!" He "only likes" red apples, but enjoys the slices of red and green and yellow apples he and his family dip into honey for "Jewish New Year."
Publisher's Weekly, August 11, 2003
I am not generally prone to write about children’s books, as much as I may enjoy reading them from time to time. I find them fun and cute, but not often memorable. That is, until I read this debut children’s book by east coast writer and artist Julie Baer. Drawn to the book by the attitudinal title line, I Only Like What I Like, the vibrant colors used throughout, and the jaggedly chaotic collage illustrations kept me leafing through the pages until I finally settled into reading the book. The first line is one that any child can latch onto, especially if delivered with the right tone: “My full name is Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg and I only like what I like.” Tell it like it is Dewey! Given this first line, you might think what follows would be a continuation of stubborn tirades, but the message of the book is really one of trying new things and changing to greet the versatility of life. Throughout the book, Dewey asserts his likes: “I only like round food in the morning.” “I only like Jess to baby-sit for Abe and me.” “I only like to sleep with the great big, bright light turned on for the whole, entire night.” But, rather than persisting with each preference, Dewey encounters change and alternatives that he comes to accept, such as when his dad makes square waffles for breakfast, or when his bright light is replaced with a night light. What a great message for kids: try it, you might like it! Baer’s illustrations really make this book pop. Baer’s medium is cut paper collage using found imagery and hand-painted rice paper. Each page contains a nearly full-size image framed in multiple borders. As such, there is plenty to occupy a child’s visual learning: shapes, letters, numbers, colors. Examples of illustrations from this book and other works by Baer can be viewed on her website, www.juliebaer.com, which also has a link to Bollix Press. Baer has several other children’s books planned for publication in the next few years with Bollix press, which is good news. After seeing this debut work, I’m sure Baer will quickly develop a following, both of children and adults.
Denise Hill, NewPages.com
Dewey Jackson Braintree-Berg only likes what he likes. Round food in the morning, noodles shaped like letters, red apples, yellow and white houses, and his cat Mookie. But is he willing to try other things? He just might find out that there are more things he likes. The delightful collages take you through a week in the life of young Dewey, and readers just might discover that they like more than they think. A fun story to read aloud again and again.
Christina Lewis, www.kidsbookshelf.com
This is a spectacular book indeed. It is rich like a tapestry, like a walk in the Brooklyn Museum on Sunday. I like the idea – just perfect for my children who right now only like what they like. So do I…
Peter Sís, internationally acclaimed author/illustrator.
I Only Like What I Like is both artfully designed and technically amazing. The collage not only presents the lush color, it is indeed most certainly a part of the message, and the humor here makes perfect ‘kid sense!’
Dilys Evans, Artist Agent, founder of the Original Art Exhibition, now an annual event at the Society of Illustrators, and guest speaker on The Fine Art of Illustration.
CHILDREN BEWARE – I Only Like What I Like will have you trying the untried, ‘cause it’s FUN! Julie Baer’s rich collages fill you up to the eyeballs. Go on, just one bite.
Rob Shepperson, illustrator for Newsweek, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.
Using the simple technique of cut paper collage, Julie Baer has created tapestries of glorious color and movement, capturing the subtlest expressions and gestures. I Only Like What I Like is a beautiful story for both kids and adults, and I would like to step right into each exquisite picture, one at a time, and explore every detail.
Caren Loebel-Fried, artist and author of Hawaiian Legends of the Guardian Spirits, published by University of Hawaii Press.
Julie Baer explores the ever changing certainties of childhood with humor and a world of rich color and design. Such fun!
Norah Dooley, storyteller and author of Everybody Cooks Rice and Everybody Bakes Bread.
Julie Baer is an artist of uncommon virtuosity. That she has turned her hand to picture books is very good news indeed! Her lively text and richly detailed pictures are a treat for children and adults alike.