ReadItDaddy's Picture Book of the Week - Week Ending 3rd May 2019: "Boy Oh Boy" by Dr Cliff Leek and Bene Rohlmann (Wide Eyed Editions)

Our first Picture Book of the Week this week may have a few of you inwardly groaning. "Not another 'collection of inspirational figures' book" you may sigh, just as we did but this one is quite a bit different to the usual fare, both in content and in design.

In fact it looks very cool thanks to some eye-catching visuals right off the bat. "Boy oh Boy" by Dr Cliff Leek and Bene Rohlmann neatly addresses an imbalance in the type of inspirational figures books that flooded the blog last year (and for the early part of this year too).

Not through some sense of demanding absolute equality, but because boys need inspirational books about amazing historical and contemporary role models too, it's quite pleasing to see something like "Boy Oh Boy" not just trotting out the same tired old faces, but slipping in a few that girls and boys will either know or may have heard about in their own circles of influence.

Sure enough, the usual 'faces' are in here (Muhammad Ali, Ghandi, Nelson Mandela etc) but it's the new additions that made us sit up and take notice, and the striking way in which these figures are brought to life by Dr Cliff and Bene in each spread.

Nelson Mandela - No stranger to inspirational figures books

Athletes, activists, artists, musicians all make an appearance in this book. From Lebron James to Freddie Mercury, from Prince to David Hockney, you'll find 30 amazing men who demonstrate the diversity of modern masculinity in a relatable and thankfully less toxic way. Here are men who have achieved amazing things in their own fields of expertise, or have fought hard for human rights, race issues and many other fantastic causes.

It was so cool to see Ta-Nehisi Coates making the list. An American comic author, and the driving force behind one of Marvel's most impressive comic-to-movie adaptations of late - the stunning "Black Panther". Reading about his influences, and struggles in a largely white male dominated domain was both inspiring and fascinating. We were also mighty impressed to see Hayao Miyazaki make the cut, with a wholly inspirational spread about his groundbreaking animation studio, Ghibli, and the fact that in many of his animated features, female heroes are the lead characters - proving that women are just as capable as men when it comes to embarking on mythical and fantastical quests.

As we've come to expect from Wide Eyed, this is brilliantly presented and designed so if there's room on your bookshelf for just one more inspirational figures book, this is a durned good one.

Sum this book up in a sentence: 30 amazing men, some you'll be familiar with and some you won't, but all amazing role models for girls or boys.

"Boy Oh Boy" by Dr Cliff Leek and Bene Rohlmann is out now, published by Wide Eyed Editions (kindly supplied for review)