It's A Book

by Lane Smith

Roaring Brook Press | August 10, 2010 | Hardcover 

 A humorous look at what happens when one character, reared on a diet of the Internet and gaming, cannot fathom what to do with a book and slings a barrage of annoying questions;

"Can you blog with it?"
" How do you scroll down?"
" Can you make the characters fight?”

   Readers know who is speaking by each animal's unique font type and color. Exasperated, Monkey hands over the volume. Life, death, and madness, all in a single illustrated page of Treasure Island, draw Jackass in. He responds with a knee-jerk reaction (“too many letters”) and hilariously reduces it to text speak, but his interest is piqued. He covets the book and readers watch him pore over it for hours. Repeated images of him transfixed, shifting left to right, up and down, ears upright, then splayed, and eyes wide open, fill a wordless spread and offer a priceless visual testimony to the focused interaction between readers' imaginations and a narrative. Mouse delivers the final punch line, which will lead to a fit of naughty but well-deserved laughter, and shouts of “Encore.” A clever choice for readers, young and old, who love a good joke and admire the picture book's ability to speak to many.

Suitable for all ages (with an alternate ending!) but kids in Grade 3 and up will get the humour in it.