Chloe and the Lion by Mac Barnett and Adam Rex

Is it the author or the illustrator who is more important in the creation of a picture book? That is the conflict in Chloe and the Lion. Author Mac Barnett and artist Adam Rex duke it out on the pages after Rex draws a dragon instead of the lion that Barnett called for in the text. Poor little Chloe, the ostensible star of the story. She really has to put her foot down to get proper attention from either of them!

Rex uses photoshop to pull together artwork made of paint, pencil, wood, fabric and modelling clay. The wooden stage sets reminded me of Edmonton Public Library's wonderful Storytime Station videos.

Fun for all ages. See the book trailer for Chloe and the Lion here for a preview.

Readalikes: For more picture books with cool multimedia collage artwork: Mirror (and many others by Jeannie Baker); 17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore (and sequel, 11 Experiments that Failed, by Jenny Offill); and Here Comes the Garbage Barge (Jonah Winter). For more hilarious metafiction in picture books: Bad Day at Riverbend (Chris Van Allsburg); The Stinky Cheese Man (Jon Szieska and Lane Smith); and Wolves (Emily Gravett).

Also, dig up a copy of the Caldecott-winning classic Andy and the Lion by James Daugherty, which was obviously a source of inspiration for Chloe and the Lion.