It's a Book

Author: Lane Smith

Illustrator: Lane Smith

Peach’s Picks Rating:

Year of publication: 2010

City of publication: New York

Publisher: Roaring Brook Press

ISBN: 978-1-59643-606-0

Author website: http://www.lanesmithbooks.com/LaneSmithBooks/Lane_Smith_Books.html

Illustrator website: See “Author website” entry

Media used for illustrations: Brush and ink – more information about Smith’s creative process may be found at http://curiouspages.blogspot.com/2010/07/lane-smith-on-its-book.html

Annotation: Two friends, jackass and monkey, discuss and compare print and digital media. Jackass is unfamiliar with books, but soon comes to realize their value.

Personal reaction to the book: This book is laugh out loud funny, especially for adults. The reader is introduced to three characters, a mouse, a jackass, and a monkey on the title page. The jackass carries a laptop computer. The monkey sits in a red chair reading a book. The mouse observes their actions. At first the jackass cannot understand how the monkey can enjoy the book. After all, a book cannot do all the things a computer can do; scroll, blog, text, tweet, or be used for game playing. However, the jackass’ interest is piqued. He continues to ask the monkey questions about using a book. Finally, putting his computer aside he becomes engrossed in the book. Monkey must go to the library to get another.  The final sentence is an excellent punch line that will take readers by surprise as it is considered a naughty, inappropriate word by most parents. Depending on the community a librarian serves, there may be a challenge against the book due to the last sentence. I considered it hilarious, but snarky.  The text is brief, simple, and to the point. The story is told through dialogue. Another illustrator might have used balloons for the dialogue, but Smith chose to convey which character is speaking by assigning each a color and a font style. The characters are cartoon-like with the action taking place in a living room with two red chairs. The jackass and the donkey face one another throughout their discussions. The eyes are very expressive showing a range of emotions including disbelief, irritation, and anger. Lane Smith’s body of work contains many humorous and clever picturebooks. I especially enjoy the fable “Grasshopper Logic” found in Squids Will Be Squids by Scieszka and Smith (Viking, 1998).

General curricular connections:

• Humorous stories
• Use in school library classes when discussing technology and print resources and their uses
• Use in health and human development classes when discussing technology and print resources and their uses

Recommended grade levels:

School Library Journal recommends this book for use with grades 3-5

Booklist recommends this book for use with grades 1-3

Peach’s Picks recommends this book for use with grades 4 and up

Awards/Recognitions:

Publishers Weekly starred review

School Library Journal starred review

Note: This book applies to the assignment criteria - books published in 2010-2011

Repetition:  “It’s a book.” found throughout the text

Repetition:  Page 21-33; the wall clock

Onomatopoeia: Page 10; “Toot”

Symbolism: Page 9; the firework-like drawings that float above the jackass’ head symbolizing the noise of characters fighting in a computer game

Book cover picture retrieved from http://www.lanesmithbooks.com/LaneSmithBooks/Books.html