This Book Will Not Be Fun by Cirocco Dunlap (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- This Book Will Not Be Fun by Cirocco Dunlap
Library ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55062-1 $20.99
Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55061-4 $17.99
Reviewed from galleys Ad 4-7 yrs
Our bespectacled mouse narrator stands firmly behind the titular sentiment, insisting to the viewer there is nothing amusing to see here, even when a giant word-eating whale passes by. A glow-in-the-dark kung fu worm still does not move the mouse to admit that the book might be a bit amusing, but eventually he can't deny the awesomeness of a gravity-defying monster dance party. With a bow tie, black-framed glasses, scrawny frame, and nose in a book, our mouse is pretty much the picture of snobby nerd-dom. Of course, young viewers are pretty well versed now in meta [End Page 408] humor and they'll be prepped for the fact that the mouse's stance will quickly be dismissed. Unfortunately, this lacks the spark of Falatko's Snappsy the Alligator Did Not Ask to Be In This Book (BCCB 3/16) or the charm of Schwarz's There Are Cats in this Book (BCCB 12/08), and the final punchline falls flat. Many of the scenes are repetitive, with the mouse's profile remaining the same page after page, but the dance party scene offers a riot of vivid colors contrasting with mouse's bookish brown tones and the crazy creature's cool moves across the page may infect viewers with boogie fever. Have some shakers and tambourines to handout in storytime to ensure the fun, despite our mouse's efforts.
