Outside In and Inside Out: a story about Arnold Lobel. Written and illustrated by Emmy Kastner. Viking, Penguin Random House. 2025. $24.99 ages 5 and up

 

"He listened. 
He watched everything. 
And Arnold read a lot. 

It was a downhill sprint to the library. 
Then back home, uphill, with five new 
books that were his for two weeks. 

What were his favorite stories?
The ones that made him laugh."

A most inventive beginning line for a picture book biography starts not with a birth date, but with 'a boy and a pair of wet socks'. Promising readers that they may find within its pages a bit of a different take on sharing a famous author's life. That pair of wet socks led to a severe illness for the young boy, and hospitalization for many months.

Following his recovery, Arnold entertained his classmates with his stories and the worlds he imagined through his art while in recovery. Impressed in the beginning, the children soon tired of those stories and Arnold became an outsider, which can be a very hard thing to be. He did like watching and listening, and reading a lot of books. They provided inspiration for the young boy that led to a fairly absurd collection of items as an adult. He loved those silly things; still, he was determined to live out his hopes and dreams through his writing. He lived life as he wanted to live it, with a wife named Anita, also an artist. Working in the business world was not fulfilling. He quit. 

"With brushes, his paints, and a pen, 
Arnold Lobel set out to find his way
as a professional daydreamer."

The works he created for himself, his own children, and the many children who loved them, were not always easy for him. They were stories of himself and his life and the observations made every day. Then came Frog and Toad, award-winning, perpetually loved, and truthful in their interpretation of true friendship. 

"In his books, 
the inside came out
and the outside came in." 

In later years when Arnold was terminally ill, he made the decision to spend his final days making 'his very last book in a very clever way'. Look for The Turnaround Wind at your public library or a used book store. 

In a letter to her readers, Emmy Kastner makes clear her admiration of and love for Arnold Lobel, the storyteller, the artist, the family man, and writer who showed us his world from both the outside in and the inside out. It is one of my favorite books of 2025, and a spectacular picture book biography. 

P.S. Check back and find Arnold's signature easter eggs hidden on every page.