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102
From Caldecott Medalist Matthew Cordell comes a cozy, magical nighttime adventure, in which a child discovers the mysterious, miniature world beyond his bedroom walls. Sent home from school earlier in the day with a fever, George awakens in the middle of the night to discover a cricket beckoning him on an adventure and soon finds himself shrunken down in size. He follows the insect guide through a crack in his bedroom wall, through the moonlit yard, and into the home of a family of mice at the base of an oak tree. There, in a tiny, cozy kitchen, George discovers the meaning of his quest: he must help the Mama mouse complete her special 102-bean soup for her sick young son. Delightfully sweet as it is fantastic, 102 seamlessly explores the values of curiosity, kindness, and generosity. The simple yet profound conclusion shares a clever wink with readers, encouraging them to believe the unbelievable.
48 pages, Hardcover
First published April 14, 2026
About the author
Matthew Cordell
70 books177 followersMatthew Cordell is the acclaimed author and illustrator of the 2018 Caldecott winner Wolf in the Snow. He is also the author and illustrator of Trouble Gum and the illustrator of If the S in Moose Comes Loose, Toot Toot Zoom!, Mighty Casey, Righty and Lefty, and Toby and the Snowflakes, which was written by his wife. Matthew lives in the suburbs of Chicago with his wife, writer Julie Halpern, and their daughter, Romy.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
May 4, 2026
Absolutely stunning! The added references to my birthday (10/2) and the doodles of Greg and Wirt were icing on the cake.
April 16, 2026
Caldecott-award winner Matthew Cordell creates magic in a 102 different ways in this fantasy-infused picture book of kindness and empathy. Known for his incredible details and crosshatching style, Cordell’s multicolored ballpoint pen imagines a young boy named George and his escapades with the smallest of creatures.
Suffering from a 102 temperature, he pleads with his mother to keep the mouse they capture in an abandoned tank. During the night, a cricket awakens him and he shrinks down to her level only to discover hidden passageways and the mouse’s true purpose for scurrying past them with a bean. Sprinkled throughout the narrative are “102” symbols and words to mark George’s trip this night and through his life.
A rich journey of discovery and connection, Cordell reminds readers that we are connected to everything that lives and all are deserving of mercy and kindness. A beautiful and stunning masterpiece, this is Cordell at his very best. Highly recommended.
Suffering from a 102 temperature, he pleads with his mother to keep the mouse they capture in an abandoned tank. During the night, a cricket awakens him and he shrinks down to her level only to discover hidden passageways and the mouse’s true purpose for scurrying past them with a bean. Sprinkled throughout the narrative are “102” symbols and words to mark George’s trip this night and through his life.
A rich journey of discovery and connection, Cordell reminds readers that we are connected to everything that lives and all are deserving of mercy and kindness. A beautiful and stunning masterpiece, this is Cordell at his very best. Highly recommended.
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April 20, 2026Now *this* is storytelling! Of course the author/illustrator of Cornbread and Poppy would create something so beautiful. Obsessed with the repetition of the numbers 102 in various representations.
May 5, 2026
A few things about 102 by Matthew Cordell:
It’s a new picture book, but feels like it has always been here. I don’t know how to explain it, except for to say, it feels instantly timeless.
We learn this about how @cordell_matthew illustrated the book; “One day, while rummaging through his kids’ art supplies, Matthew found a cheery multicolored, multi scented ballpoint pen. He liked it so much, he went on to draw 102 with it, layering many lines of one color over another. It took sixteen of these pens to draw all forty-eight pages of this book.” Go to Matthew Cordell’s Instagram for more about this process!
The art is important to the story. You get insight into the story and the characters, and there’s a lot of additional details in the illustrations. 102 keeps appearing - 102 Greenbriar Drive, October 2, 102 fever - sometimes only in the illustrations. I just saw yet another 102 I hadn’t before, it’s 102% on a school assignment tacked on a bulletin board! I especially like the expressions of the crickets and the boy and especially, especially like the scene at 102 Acorn Hollow, drinking tea out of acorn cups. Somehow there’s steam coming out of the cups!
Last, but not least, if you’ve ever had that strange, hazy feeling of being sick and dreaming, Matthew Cordell has captured it perfectly in 102. It’s a 24-hour fever adventure that feels nostalgic, warm, and wonderfully weird.
I ❤️ this book!
It’s a new picture book, but feels like it has always been here. I don’t know how to explain it, except for to say, it feels instantly timeless.
We learn this about how @cordell_matthew illustrated the book; “One day, while rummaging through his kids’ art supplies, Matthew found a cheery multicolored, multi scented ballpoint pen. He liked it so much, he went on to draw 102 with it, layering many lines of one color over another. It took sixteen of these pens to draw all forty-eight pages of this book.” Go to Matthew Cordell’s Instagram for more about this process!
The art is important to the story. You get insight into the story and the characters, and there’s a lot of additional details in the illustrations. 102 keeps appearing - 102 Greenbriar Drive, October 2, 102 fever - sometimes only in the illustrations. I just saw yet another 102 I hadn’t before, it’s 102% on a school assignment tacked on a bulletin board! I especially like the expressions of the crickets and the boy and especially, especially like the scene at 102 Acorn Hollow, drinking tea out of acorn cups. Somehow there’s steam coming out of the cups!
Last, but not least, if you’ve ever had that strange, hazy feeling of being sick and dreaming, Matthew Cordell has captured it perfectly in 102. It’s a 24-hour fever adventure that feels nostalgic, warm, and wonderfully weird.
I ❤️ this book!
April 30, 2026
Loved the story and art. However, the cricket being a she/her threw me off since her chirp is what awoke George and female crickets do not have the wing structure needed to make the chirping noise that their male counterpoints do.
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April 24, 2026Very interesting. I don't think the text on the last page is necessary - I don't get it, and I would have left it with just the picture.
I'm a numbers person, so I love the way 10-2 and 102 and 1:02 were incorporated into the story.
I would say Caldecott contender for sure. I mean, it's Matthew Cordell's latest serious story, so of course it's a contender. I like this one way more than Wolf in the Snow, too.
I'm a numbers person, so I love the way 10-2 and 102 and 1:02 were incorporated into the story.
I would say Caldecott contender for sure. I mean, it's Matthew Cordell's latest serious story, so of course it's a contender. I like this one way more than Wolf in the Snow, too.
May 18, 2026
This feels like a classic. It's a fever dream that reminded me mostly of Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH and also other children's fantasy classics like Where the Wild Things Are, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and The Borrowers.
If you examine the pictures, you'll find extra 102 references. For example: the date on the calendar looks to be 10/2, George got 102% on an assignment, the honey bear is 10.2 ounces, and there's a dime (10) and a 2-cent coin in Junior's room. I also noticed both George and Junior have a picture of Totoro on their bedroom walls. And while looking for 102s, I noticed the unbelievable number of pen strokes it took to make the illustrations. Astonishing!
If you examine the pictures, you'll find extra 102 references. For example: the date on the calendar looks to be 10/2, George got 102% on an assignment, the honey bear is 10.2 ounces, and there's a dime (10) and a 2-cent coin in Junior's room. I also noticed both George and Junior have a picture of Totoro on their bedroom walls. And while looking for 102s, I noticed the unbelievable number of pen strokes it took to make the illustrations. Astonishing!
May 2, 2026
Sent home from school earlier in the day with a fever, George awakens in the middle of the night to discover a cricket beckoning him on an adventure and soon finds himself shrunken down in size. He follows the insect guide through a crack in his bedroom wall, through the moonlit yard, and into the home of a family of mice at the base of an oak tree. There, in a tiny, cozy kitchen, George discovers the meaning of his quest: he must help the Mama mouse complete her special 102-bean soup for her sick young son."--
May 13, 2026
I love the illustrations! I also like the parallel story of the boy with a fever who finds a mouse he wants to keep. His fever dreams have him join a grasshopper on a trip to visit a mouse family where the youngest is ill and needs the father who left for beans to return so the mother can finish her soup. A sort of parallel universe of mice and men, if you will. I could pour over these illustrations for hours and I believe they will be the biggest draw to the book for all of my readers in my elementary school.
May 19, 2026
An inventive adventure story in which a boy isn't feeling well and ends up on a mission to chase a mouse and finds a mouse mom taking care of her ill mouse child and missing her mouse husband who was the mouse that the kid ended up putting in a tank and he realizes that he needs to fix that because all she wants to do is make the 102 bean soup to make him feel better. But it has that
Everything features the number in some way which makes it a curiously neat organization for the picture book with the colored pencil/pen illustrations that feel whimsical. I liked it.
Everything features the number in some way which makes it a curiously neat organization for the picture book with the colored pencil/pen illustrations that feel whimsical. I liked it.
May 23, 2026
George is sick and goes home from school with a fever of 102, a number that will appear many times in the story. In the middle of the night George wakes up and a cricket pulls him into a very unusual adventure. As if understanding a cricket isn’t strange enough, he suddenly shrinks and follows the cricket through a hole in his bedroom wall and meets a family of mice. With absolutely incredible illustrations, this one is sure to become a favorite.
April 21, 2026
Whelp that was a definite Caldecott award nominee! Holy cow were the illustrations super cool and they story that goes with the images is so cute, and lovely. The idea of 102 connecting each little bit of what happens. I feel like this would be a cool read aloud for an older kid audience. Adding to my SRP visit read aloud list!
April 26, 2026
From the beginning, the numbers 1 0 2 are depicted, creating a search and find. Love the images of other children’s books and other potential shoutouts. Imaginative, will be read more than once, great art done with colorful ballpoint pens. The one downside to a library copy is the jacket is taped on - how will kids be able to count the beans on the endpapers to check for all 102?
May 2, 2026
6 stars
Using the number 102, Cordell creates a story of George who lives at 102 Greenbriar Drive and is sent home with a fever of 102 on 10/2. There is a mouse in the kitchen and his mother traps it but George refuses to let her get rid of it, instead keeping it in an old terrarium. Then George wakes at 1:02 and has an adventure that ties everything together!
Using the number 102, Cordell creates a story of George who lives at 102 Greenbriar Drive and is sent home with a fever of 102 on 10/2. There is a mouse in the kitchen and his mother traps it but George refuses to let her get rid of it, instead keeping it in an old terrarium. Then George wakes at 1:02 and has an adventure that ties everything together!
May 8, 2026
A clever story with intriguing illustrations. And it seems timeless. First graders loved it!
George is sent home with a fever. While sleeping, he shrinks to the size of the mouse he and his mom caught in the kitchen. On his adventure he finds many small animals and the family of the mouse. They need the 102 Black bean to finish the soup for junior who (also) has a fever.
The theme of 102 persists as does our suspension of disbelief. The wonder and magic of stories well told. Ah!
George is sent home with a fever. While sleeping, he shrinks to the size of the mouse he and his mom caught in the kitchen. On his adventure he finds many small animals and the family of the mouse. They need the 102 Black bean to finish the soup for junior who (also) has a fever.
The theme of 102 persists as does our suspension of disbelief. The wonder and magic of stories well told. Ah!
May 19, 2026
Matthew Cordell's illustrations are warm and magical. Which works well, because this story is a combination of fever dream and fantasy and you aren't quite sure which one you're in. But what you do know is that this story is a work of art, with warm and enchanting illustrations. A mysterious book which is an absolute winner.
April 16, 2026
Exquisite and breaking the bonds of traditional narrative, this book seeps Brian Selznick level art and storytelling, leaving us hopeful that Matthew Cordell continues to pursue similar endeavors and narratives in the texts he gifts readers.
April 26, 2026
There's something nostalgic about this 2026 picture book; it's longer than the traditional picture book, and it tells a story only possible in a fever-dream state. This was a great picture book to read with my 3rd grader.
April 30, 2026
A story about what happened to a boy when he develops of fever of 102 and sees a mouse and the boy goes into a hole and remembers the day with the mouse and his fever and the beans in a soup. It takes the boy eating 102 beans in the soup to get well.
May 3, 2026
Another fantastic story from Matthew Cordell. A magical, feverish nighttime trip into a place filled with surprises. And to learn that the illustrations were done with "multicolored, multi-schented, ballpoint pen" adds to the enchantment. I love his work. Caldecott potential!
May 4, 2026
This is a really fun story with unbelievable illustrations. All the pictures were made with ballpoint pens, and I found myself studying each picture for a long time! I love a children's picture book that has a great story, evidence of big imagination, and is fun to read.
May 19, 2026
Just a tad wordy but a delight. A house, a fever, a mouse, a crack in the wall and an adventure, all held together by the number 102 take us to another world very much like our own with family, a sick child and 102 bean soup. Magical. The author's illustrations shimmer.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Beautiful
April 23, 2026
Well, that was simply delightful! All the more impressive that it was done with a multi-color pen.
...I took mine out to check if it's been scented this whole time, but alas, it's not.
...I took mine out to check if it's been scented this whole time, but alas, it's not.
April 24, 2026
Wonderful illustrations and story.
May 4, 2026
While sick, a young boy has a magical adventure and makes a new friend. Also, the art is incredible.
May 8, 2026
This was such a delightful read. I love the multiple references to 102. But mostly I love that it was nothing like what I was expecting. Such a fun story to read.
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May 8, 2026delightful
May 10, 2026
My first reaction is that this is a story that I think has to grow on me cuz it’s a head scratcher right now.
May 12, 2026
Loved the ball point pen illustrations.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews