{"product_id":"things-to-look-forward-to-by-sophie-blackall-illustrated-gift-book","title":"Things to Look Forward To by Sophie Blackall | Illustrated Gift Book","description":"\u003cp\u003eSome books are read once and shelved. This is one of the other kind, the sort that gets picked up again on the days that need it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThings to Look Forward To\u003c\/strong\u003e is a collection of 52 small and large joys, written and painted by Sophie Blackall. Each entry pairs one of her watercolour illustrations with a short piece of writing: sometimes a memory, sometimes a suggestion, sometimes just a noticing. The list moves from the obvious and universal, like the sun coming up or a hot shower, to the wonderfully specific, like drawing a face on an egg so it smiles at you every time you open the fridge.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eBlackall is an Australian author and illustrator based in New York, and a two-time winner of the Randolph Caldecott Medal, for \u003cem\u003eHello Lighthouse\u003c\/em\u003e in 2019 and \u003cem\u003eFinding Winnie\u003c\/em\u003e in 2016. She also illustrated the long-running Ivy + Bean series and wrote and illustrated \u003cem\u003eIf You Come to Earth\u003c\/em\u003e. This one is her first written for adults, though it is generous enough that most ages find something in it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eIs this a children's book?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNo. It is written for adults and older readers, even though Blackall is best known for her children's work. The illustrations have the same warmth, but the writing is reflective rather than simple. Plenty of people read it alongside a child and both get something out of it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhat makes it work as a gift is that it does not demand anything of the reader. There is no programme, no thirty days of anything, no instructions. You open it wherever you like. That makes it a rare thing to give someone who is grieving, recovering, starting over, or simply worn thin, because it asks nothing back. It sits comfortably beside a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/fluxboutique.co.nz\/products\/one-hundred-days-of-gratitude-journal-by-olive-page\"\u003egratitude journal\u003c\/a\u003e for anyone building a gentler daily habit, and it pairs beautifully with a \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/fluxboutique.co.nz\/products\/deck-of-calm\"\u003edeck of mindfulness cards\u003c\/a\u003e for a considered gift set.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWould this suit someone going through a hard time?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is one of the better options. The tone is compassionate without being saccharine, and it never tells anyone how to feel. It has become a quiet favourite as a sympathy gift, a get-well gift, and a gift for someone leaving a job, a house, or a relationship. It works just as well for a birthday or a housewarming, and you will find more ideas in our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/fluxboutique.co.nz\/collections\/top-gift-picks\"\u003egift picks\u003c\/a\u003e and \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/fluxboutique.co.nz\/collections\/gift-ideas-for-her\"\u003egifts for her\u003c\/a\u003e edits.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhat is the format?\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHardback, 128 pages, published by Chronicle Books, with a bound cloth spine in red and a wraparound illustration of sea and sky. ISBN 9781797214481.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003ePhysically it is a lovely object. The cover illustration wraps front to back, so it looks considered from any angle on a table or shelf, and the red spine gives a neutral stack a single point of colour. If you are building a reading pile with intent, browse the rest of our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/fluxboutique.co.nz\/collections\/books\"\u003ebook range\u003c\/a\u003e, or read our take on \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/fluxboutique.co.nz\/blogs\/news\/not-more-hobbies-just-the-right-ones\"\u003echoosing five hobbies rather than twenty\u003c\/a\u003e, which shares a lot of this book's thinking.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhy You'll Love It\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eFifty-two illustrated entries, so it can be read in one sitting or one page at a time over a year\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOriginal watercolour paintings by a two-time Caldecott Medal winner\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eGenuinely gift-ready without wrapping, thanks to the cloth spine and wraparound cover art\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSuits a wide range of recipients, from a grieving friend to a new graduate\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWarm and funny rather than earnest, which makes it far easier to give\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWhere It Lives Best\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn a bedside table, where a single page before sleep is the whole point. On a coffee table it does well as the top book in a stack of three, largest at the base, with the red spine turned outward so the colour reads. In a reading nook or window seat it earns its keep on an open shelf, propped face out beside a small vase or a ceramic object. Keep the palette around it soft, sand and bone and pale timber, and let the cover illustration provide the only real colour in the vignette. Browse our \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/fluxboutique.co.nz\/collections\/decor\"\u003edecor range\u003c\/a\u003e for the objects that go alongside it.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe short of it\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThings to Look Forward To by Sophie Blackall is a 128-page hardback gift book from Chronicle Books, collecting 52 illustrated reminders of everyday joy, from sunrise to a friend's newborn to a face drawn on an egg. Written and painted by the two-time Caldecott Medal winner behind Hello Lighthouse and Finding Winnie, it suits anyone grieving, beginning again, or simply in need of something hopeful, and works equally well as a bedside read or a coffee table book. Available at Flux Boutique with delivery across New Zealand.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54103601774910,"sku":"9781797214481","price":49.0,"currency_code":"NZD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0374\/0149\/files\/thingstolookforwardto.jpg?v=1787712869","url":"https:\/\/fluxboutique.co.nz\/products\/things-to-look-forward-to-by-sophie-blackall-illustrated-gift-book","provider":"Flux Boutique","version":"1.0","type":"link"}