Whatever
Kindergarten-Grade 2–A cautionary tale with spare text and striking graphics. Billy can be very difficult to please. Indifferent to his father's attempts to engage or impress him, the child responds to each try with an unenthusiastic …whatever. Dad plays the world's curliest trumpet, bounces Billy off the bounciest castle, and even takes him on a trip to the edge of outer space. Yet each effort fails to garner more than the same bored reaction. After the world's hungriest tiger fails to scare the impassive youngster, the animal swallows Billy whole. Dad! I am still in here you know.... In a fitting turnabout comes Dad's reply, …whatever. Bold, digitally created illustrations on stark white pages (except for outer space, which is on blue) engage the audience and mirror the humor in this slightly callous story that is reminiscent of Maurice Sendak'sPierre(HarperCollins, 1962). Children will enjoy the scrolls and curves of the curliest trumpet and the ridiculous image of Billy being bounced out of the bounciest castle, and recognize that the large, orange tiger is a creature to be reckoned with, even if the unconcerned Billy does not. Children will take pleasure in the book and get a laugh as well.–Piper L. Nyman, formerly at Fairfield Civic Center Library, CACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.