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Keep Our Secrets
Two young children tour their noisy house with fresh eyes, discovering along the way that all is not as it seems. Featuring heat-sensitive, color-changing ink on every page, this book contains dozens of delightful surprises. Among them: a giant dog slumbering in a piano, a wishing puddle full of dimes, a raccoon that is actually a robot, and a camera that is secretly made of cheese.
32 pages, Board Book
First published October 11, 2011
106 people want to read
About the author
Jordan Crane
43 books59 followersJordan Crane is a cartoonist living in Los Angeles, CA with his wife and kids. Crane first emerged in 1996 with the iconic comics anthology NON, which he edited, designed, printed, contributed to, and published.
He has four graphic novels, The Last Lonely Saturday, Col-Dee, and The Clouds Above, and Keeping Two.
He has four graphic novels, The Last Lonely Saturday, Col-Dee, and The Clouds Above, and Keeping Two.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
April 24, 2019
this is an excellent book that combines humor, melancholy and alien technology all in one tidy mcsweeney's package. it's about the size of a book of postcards, and would make a great holiday gift, says me.
so the gimmickry first. the back of the book claims "each drawing has hidden images beneath, visible only when the reader rubs the page to warm the ink." the reality is that you have to have fingertips made of the sun to make that work. hope you like friction!
this book is shelved in the children's section not because it is babyish, but because children, with their constant low-grade fevers, hyperactivity, and powder-keg of youth and vitality are really the only ones able to make this book work with their chubbly flushed little hands. me, i am old and frigid, with the circulation of a near-corpse, and i had to wrap a flannel shirt over my hand and rub and rub and triumphantly squeal with glee when my efforts were eventually successful. it's like magic eye...for your hands. the book suggests that you can use a hairdryer, but it probably would have been more effort for me to go out and buy a hairdryer than to perform my flannel-rub. but if you own a hairdryer - you should probably use that. unless you like rugburn and sore biceps.
so that's the only downside, because this isn't like the forgiving hypercolor of my youth, this is straight up alien tar.
(psst, greg! what do we say?)
but i assume most of you have hair dryers, so you can skip the whole paragraph above. hahaahah too late, suckers!
but once you penetrate the layer of seeecrets, it is worth losing your fingerprints for, because underneath is more wonderful jordan crane artwork all packed together and crazy like it is.plus, the thrill of discovery. much more fun than those "where's spot?" books.
as for the content, it is a story about a girl and a boy going through the rooms in their house, where an alarming party is taking place. i'm not really sure who all these people are, and why they are having such a messy party with animals everywhere and food half-eaten on the floor, jumping on the couches, shoes and wrenches all over the place... but the story isn't about them - despite how frenetic all of that is, the real story is what is happening underneath. and once you rub and rub (or blow and blow) you see what the children see:
that there are even more inexplicable things happening beneath that no one but the children can see. so it becomes a story about imagination and about what we lose as we grow up. like body heat. and the ability to see "the big ol' black dog" in the piano. and even the memory that once upon a time, we did know these things.
the book ends on the back cover with the little girl, arm around the boy, entreating, "don't forget, okay?"
and on the one hand, that is really sweet, but at the same time, you wonder how much imagination they have had to employ just to get through whatever turtle-infested, child-services-should-really-be-notified kinda frantic life these kids seem to have been forced to lead.
but fun, a really fun book. don't listen to old cold-handed cynical me.
is gift-giving season!! give as gift!
come to my blog!
so the gimmickry first. the back of the book claims "each drawing has hidden images beneath, visible only when the reader rubs the page to warm the ink." the reality is that you have to have fingertips made of the sun to make that work. hope you like friction!
this book is shelved in the children's section not because it is babyish, but because children, with their constant low-grade fevers, hyperactivity, and powder-keg of youth and vitality are really the only ones able to make this book work with their chubbly flushed little hands. me, i am old and frigid, with the circulation of a near-corpse, and i had to wrap a flannel shirt over my hand and rub and rub and triumphantly squeal with glee when my efforts were eventually successful. it's like magic eye...for your hands. the book suggests that you can use a hairdryer, but it probably would have been more effort for me to go out and buy a hairdryer than to perform my flannel-rub. but if you own a hairdryer - you should probably use that. unless you like rugburn and sore biceps.
so that's the only downside, because this isn't like the forgiving hypercolor of my youth, this is straight up alien tar.
(psst, greg! what do we say?)
but i assume most of you have hair dryers, so you can skip the whole paragraph above. hahaahah too late, suckers!
but once you penetrate the layer of seeecrets, it is worth losing your fingerprints for, because underneath is more wonderful jordan crane artwork all packed together and crazy like it is.plus, the thrill of discovery. much more fun than those "where's spot?" books.
as for the content, it is a story about a girl and a boy going through the rooms in their house, where an alarming party is taking place. i'm not really sure who all these people are, and why they are having such a messy party with animals everywhere and food half-eaten on the floor, jumping on the couches, shoes and wrenches all over the place... but the story isn't about them - despite how frenetic all of that is, the real story is what is happening underneath. and once you rub and rub (or blow and blow) you see what the children see:
that there are even more inexplicable things happening beneath that no one but the children can see. so it becomes a story about imagination and about what we lose as we grow up. like body heat. and the ability to see "the big ol' black dog" in the piano. and even the memory that once upon a time, we did know these things.
the book ends on the back cover with the little girl, arm around the boy, entreating, "don't forget, okay?"
and on the one hand, that is really sweet, but at the same time, you wonder how much imagination they have had to employ just to get through whatever turtle-infested, child-services-should-really-be-notified kinda frantic life these kids seem to have been forced to lead.
but fun, a really fun book. don't listen to old cold-handed cynical me.
is gift-giving season!! give as gift!
come to my blog!
November 12, 2019
Oh, I'm not really going to review this book, not really. Read Karen's review, which is amazing, and actually shows you how the gimmick of the book is supposed to work, and is also hilarious. The book has no plot and is just two kids talking about absurd secrets they know about people and things, which generally sounds non-sensical--"That cat is being taken over by mice"-- but then if you actually rub the cat, like a genie, you see the cat is actually being taken over by mice! The gimmick is the whole book, which is totally cool . . . except just rubbing it forever I couldn't get it to work, and then I see the cover has a sticker that says: "For best results read this book with a hairdryer." Which I later find works from Karen's review, good for her!
Point for the book because I never read a book where this "reading with a hairdryer" might be true. Point off because I don't actually have a hairdryer in this house, so I'm frustrated. I know, I know, this is not McSweeney's or Crane's fault that I am not privileged enough to own a hairdryer, but there it is, life isn't fair.
That the kids know all these "secrets" and adults don't is cool, though. And maybe if I wake up happier tomorrow and go borrow a hairdryer from a neighbor I will give this book four stars, delightedly.
Point for the book because I never read a book where this "reading with a hairdryer" might be true. Point off because I don't actually have a hairdryer in this house, so I'm frustrated. I know, I know, this is not McSweeney's or Crane's fault that I am not privileged enough to own a hairdryer, but there it is, life isn't fair.
That the kids know all these "secrets" and adults don't is cool, though. And maybe if I wake up happier tomorrow and go borrow a hairdryer from a neighbor I will give this book four stars, delightedly.
May 7, 2012
This book definitely has the "neato" factor, esp for kids, with its invisible ink. A good part of the book will only become visible if you apply some heat to the invisible ink (with a hairdryer, though you can also try rubbing the hidden images with your hand if you are trying to develop strong biceps and don't mind friction burns on your fingers). Though the writing is kind of clever in its own way, there is not much plot here so it's best for kids who are young enough to be amused by this neat trick alone and don't need much beyond that. 3.5 stars really but I'm rounding up frankly because I can see tricking some kid into believing that it's a magical book.
January 22, 2019
Color-changing ink hides the secrets in this book: a hose filled with snakes, a mechanical raccoon, a brain in a jar. There's not a lot of story here, just the images to carry it. Warming the book reveals the pictures beneath the black. It's a gimmick, and doesn't really hang together as a story, but I do love Jordan Crane's artwork.
March 3, 2012
This doesn't seem like a book for kids. The pictures, when revealed, seem pointless and not kid- appropriate or appealing. Disappointing. More gimmick than substance. Besides, who wants to drag out a hair dryer to read a book?
January 15, 2012
Coolest idea for a picture book EVER! The black ink is heat sensitive and when you rub it (or go over it quickly with a hair dryer) it becomes transparent, revealing all sorts of fun, silly secrets! A brilliant idea, wonderfully executed by Mr. Crane.
December 24, 2011
If you are the type of person who "likes children," you should buy this book for one of the "children" you like. "They" will definitely like the book (and might even like you back).
If, on the other hand, you are the type of person who "doesn't like children." That simply means that you won't have any "grubby little fingerprints" on your "cool new book."
People, it's a win-win situation and anyone with this book is a "winner."
If, on the other hand, you are the type of person who "doesn't like children." That simply means that you won't have any "grubby little fingerprints" on your "cool new book."
People, it's a win-win situation and anyone with this book is a "winner."
January 18, 2012
Absolutely great book for kids--they'll love seeing the secrets appear from behind the black ink. (Don't worry, the black areas turn black again after they've cooled.) On Christmas, I gave this book to my 11-year-old niece with cerebral palsy--she read it dozens of times that night and for days afterward. (She can't handle the recommended hair dryer to heat the pages, but she can hold a microwaveable heating pad to hold to the pages.) That's one kid who thinks it's fantastic.
March 25, 2012
Cool - I always love Jordan Crane's mix of innocent and creepy with that unintentional vibe. He really captures a sense of how as a kid you can accept some pretty wild stuff and either get totally freaked out by it or just roll with it, whichever the situation dictates. Completely the latter in this lighthearted book, maybe less so in some of his other stuff.
In any event, the heat-sensitive ink was also a neat idea, though I don't know how often I'll pull out the hair dryer to read this.
In any event, the heat-sensitive ink was also a neat idea, though I don't know how often I'll pull out the hair dryer to read this.
January 23, 2012
Ok. I have been waiting for this for months, and it finally came. The concept is so fun, but it does not work very well. I have kept my warm hands on it, rubbed it, and just get a ghost of the image I should see.
Just read the label on the front. "For Best Results, Read This Book With A Hairdryer". Who wants to read a book with a hairdryer?!!?
Lame.
Just read the label on the front. "For Best Results, Read This Book With A Hairdryer". Who wants to read a book with a hairdryer?!!?
Lame.
November 4, 2016
Magical.
February 4, 2012
Love it! Stumbled across this and was intrigued
February 17, 2012
This book was awesome. My boys loved reading all the secrets. A must have for your children (or the child in you!)
April 25, 2013
Thanks Aunt Jen. We were finally able to read this using the hair dryer.
July 19, 2021
I keep this one in the "rainy day" basket and we read it near the heating vent.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews