This tantalizing amalgam of the philosophical, artistic, and mathematical offers multiple entrees to an irresistible concept.
An Argentine author/illustrator invites readers into his gallery and muses on that which is unlimited, endless, uncountable.
Each double-page spread features a full-color, textured composition on the recto; the verso includes an equation (sometimes just a number), a lyrical statement, and, at the bottom, a whimsical drawing incorporating a lemniscate—the symbol of infinity. The opening quote is a snippet from Hamlet: “I could be bounded / in a nutshell, / and count myself / a King / of infinite space….” Depicted holding a swordlike carrot with the mathematical symbol as crossguard, the figure opposite appears in cameos throughout, providing the narrative thread. Some ideas tend toward the unpleasant. Infinity is imagined as “that nightmare / where I’m inside the snow of a television screen, / and I have to sweep it up / with a toothpick.” Others are full of possibility: “It’s / the eye of an artist / just before / he starts drawing.” This line is accompanied by a black pupil surrounded by rings of colored-pencil points. Those with knowledge of math and science will recognize certain equations while other numbers are personal, according to a note with the copyright information. As in the work of Shaun Tan, these pages provide provocations for readers to contemplate, synthesize, and imagine what they will based on their own interests and backgrounds. There is humor and much to stimulate thinking about what could be.
This tantalizing amalgam of the philosophical, artistic, and mathematical offers multiple entrees to an irresistible concept. (Picture book. 9-adult)Pub Date: March 9, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-73422-592-1
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Penny Candy
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall.
This book may not have pictures, but it’s sure to inspire lots of conversations—and laughs.
Television writer, actor and comedian Novak delivers a rare find, indeed: a very good celebrity picture book. It doesn’t even seem fair to call it such, since it has nothing to do with his Emmy Award–winning writing for The Office or the fame his broader career has afforded him. The jacket flap even eschews a glossy photo, instead saying “B.J. has brown hair and blue eyes,” in order to keep with the book’s central conceit. What this book does have is text, and it’s presented through artful typography that visually conveys its changing tone to guide oral readings. Furthermore, the text implies (or rather, demands) a shared reading transaction, in which an adult is compelled to read the text aloud, no matter how “COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS” it is. Employing direct address, it pleads with the implied child listener to allow him or her to stop reading. Nonsense words, silly words to be sung and even a smattering of potty talk for good measure all coalesce in riotous read-aloud fare. Although the closing pages beg the implied child reader to “please please please please / please / choose a book with pictures” for subsequent reading, it’s likely that this request will be ignored.
A riotously fresh take on breaking the fourth wall. (. (Picture book. 3-8)Pub Date: Sept. 30, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-8037-4171-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable.
You think you know shapes? Animals? Blend them together, and you might see them both a little differently!
What a mischievous twist on a concept book! With wordplay and a few groan-inducing puns, Neal creates connections among animals and shapes that are both unexpected and so seemingly obvious that readers might wonder why they didn’t see them all along. Of course, a “lazy turtle” meeting an oval would create the side-splitting combo of a “SLOW-VAL.” A dramatic page turn transforms a deeply saturated, clean-lined green oval by superimposing a head and turtle shell atop, with watery blue ripples completing the illusion. Minimal backgrounds and sketchy, impressionistic detailing keep the focus right on the zany animals. Beginning with simple shapes, the geometric forms become more complicated as the book advances, taking readers from a “soaring bird” that meets a triangle to become a “FLY-ANGLE” to a “sleepy lion” nonagon “YAWN-AGON.” Its companion text, Animal Colors, delves into color theory, this time creating entirely hybrid animals, such as the “GREEN WHION” with maned head and whale’s tail made from a “blue whale and a yellow lion.” It’s a compelling way to visualize color mixing, and like Animal Shapes, it’s got verve. Who doesn’t want to shout out that a yellow kangaroo/green moose blend is a “CHARTREUSE KANGAMOOSE”?
Innovative and thoroughly enjoyable. (Board book. 2-4)Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4998-0534-5
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Little Bee Books
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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