Warning: Do Not Open This Book! by Adam Lehrhaupt (review)

Audiences are warned right away about about opening this picture book: "You don't want to let the monkeys out." The intrepid and curious, though, will forge on to find a single monkey poking his head in from the edge of the page—followed by a barrage of monkeys on the next, who muck everything up by fiddling with the text and splashing paint all over the illustrations. Continuing (and ignoring the narrator's pleas to stop) leads to a slew of similarly invasive toucans and finally one very large and scary alligator. All hope seems to be lost until the narrator has an idea: "Only you can make things right. You should set a trap!" Once the trap, a banana, has been rigged, audiences can then slam the book shut with squeals of glee, keeping the mess of creatures stuck inside. This book follows in the tradition of The Monster at the End of This Book and Schwarz's There Are Cats in This Book (BCCB 12/05) to combine metafiction, dry humor, and pure silliness to create a hilarious readaloud experience. Forsythe's earth-toned, messy digital illustrations escalate along with the text, starting with warning signs against an austere white background but, as the critters get out of control, becoming full-bleed chaos. The art is also also reminiscent of a kid's watercolor paintings, a feeling enhanced by the blob-shaped monkeys and wonky alligator—and the fact that the monkeys themselves draw the trees in the background. Kids following along will relish the exhilaration of breaking the rules as well as the simple but clever means of cleaning it all up. Expect the titular exhortation on this one to be thoroughly ignored again and again.