HAPPY PUNKS 1 2 3

A round dozen punk rockers assemble with friends for a dance party. Count along, and check out the stylish ’dos and duds!

Promoting numeracy and joie de vivre in equal measure, “John & Jana” one by one gather up Noriko, Kevin, Viv and other delighted friends—all sporting outlandishly shaped and colored hair over a wild array of fashions new and old. They hang out together, play music (“They love to be very loud”), make some posters, down a few pizzas, then at last get up on stage to “stomp / and bounce / and yell and make noise” with their friends. Painted in a flat, postmodern Maira Kalman style, the illustrations feature an unusually diverse urban cast that includes the occasional robot or green-skinned monster along with a street giraffe and other atypical residents. Aside from one discreet heart, there are no tattoos or piercings to be seen, and the text and typography are too staid to capture the music’s volume. Still, the dancers and musicians fling their limbs with evocative abandon, and the smiles remain even as, weary and nodding off in the wee hours, all make their way to bed.

Just the ticket for young punkers who sneer at counting, say, sheep.