LOOK!

Even an ape knows books can be better than TV.

An inquisitive ape finds a book. Not knowing what it is, he puts it on his head and tries to attract the attention of a boy watching TV. “Look,” says the ape. The boy ignores him. The ape tries balancing the book on his nose, saying “Look. Look.” The boy brushes him aside, telling him to “Look out.” The ape keeps trying, but when he nearly knocks over the boy’s TV, he triggers a curt “Out.” Shortly, he returns, riding a tricycle and juggling several books. Seven iterations of “Look” are scrawled in what looks like crayon across the page. “Look out!”—there goes the TV. “Out! Out! Out!” goes the ape. TV broken, the boy starts reading one of the fallen books. “Look,” he says, calling the ape back: It’s the tale of a boy and an ape in the jungle! Mack skillfully uses two words and their various meanings, integrating them with the digitally manipulated mixed-media illustrations to tell his tale. Bright, mostly monochrome page backgrounds evoke clothbound book covers and distressed old pages; minimal set dressing (a door, a stool, the TV) keeps the focus on the zany interaction. The personalities and emotions of the chunky, fluffy ape and the TV-entranced boy nearly vibrate off the page.

Look, indeed! An energetic invitation to the joys of books.