‘When Penny Met POTUS’ by Rachel Ruiz, and illustrated by Melissa Manwill, is a terrifically imaginative read about a young girl spending the day at work with her mom. Her mom works at the White House and has a boss who Penny has never met. All she knows is that the boss goes by the name POTUS, so she pictures a large creature who happily takes her around its home, sharing its work with her, having tea parties, and learning about where it eats and where it likes to travel. Little does she know that POTUS is a more elusive creature than she would have hoped. As she asks around about where she might find POTUS, the workers she finds around the house are not of much help. POTUS always seems to be someplace else. As Penny searches her imagination and then literally searches the house for more information about who and what POTUS is, she discovers that even though the imagination can be fantastically creative, all isn’t necessarily as it seems.

It is a sweet story that shows how children should never stop thinking, dreaming, and showing interest in solving any and all of life’s mysteries, no matter how large or small. The illustrations bring the story even more to life, with bright colors that capture the beauty of Penny’s instincts about how cool it is that her mother works for such an awesomely interesting boss, at least from Penny’s perspective.

*Review originally posted on YABooksCentral.com*

You can find ‘When Penny Met POTUS’ by Rachel Ruiz here.