CBD!

by Amy Sohn, Eric Hansen (Illustrator)

CBD has insinuated itself into every aspect of our lives, from body oil to pet food. The cannabis derivative cannabidiol is an omnipresent cure-all that has gone from being “voguish” to “a mainstream panacea,” as The New York Times recently noted. And it’s a particular favorite of the crowd endemic to Brooklyn, the Bay Area and other similar urban environs.

Now comes Amy Sohn’s parodic parable CBD!, written in the style of the beloved children’s book by William Steig, CDB! A unique work of humor and a puzzle book, it is packed with charming black-and-white illustrations by Eric Hanson—and for those of us who need it, there’s a solution key in the back. Though not appropriate for kids (except for really smart and transgressive ones), CBD! will delight CBD users, irreverent parents, ex-children, and anyone curious about or appalled by the wellness industry.

48 pages • Paperback ISBN 978-1-68219-201-6 • E-book 978-1-68219-203-0

48 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2019

About the author

Amy Sohn is the author of the upcoming novel The Actress, which will be published by Simon & Schuster in July 2014. Her other novels are Motherland, Prospect Park West, My Old Man, and Run Catch Kiss. She has been a columnist at New York magazine, New York Press, the New York Post and Grazia (UK). She has also written for The New York Times, The Nation, and Harper's Bazaar. She has written pilots for ABC, Fox, HBO, and Lifetime. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her family.

Reviews

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll admit, when I saw the picture book "CDB!" by William Steig on the juvenile shelf, I misread it as "CBD." So the content of this parody is perhaps more in line with what I was expecting.

CBD is, to me, $20-a-bottle-melatonin, but its incredible rise in popularity (even Bed Bath & Beyond sells it!) as well as its many gurus who tout CBD as the remedy to all of life's problems makes the stuff ripe for a few jokes. Like the Steig original, this one uses combinations of letters and numbers (you have to sound them out) to tell a short story.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the idea that came behind this book, and I’m so glad it was written. I enjoyed the modern story of a man finding CBD and the changes that it helps make in his life, and I loved the simplistic and old-school illustrations. This little book was fun, funny, and whimsical.

However, I do have to admit that I still struggled too. I realized that the writing form was a parody of the children’s book “CDB!” which, as an idea, is a great one. I even like the idea of having to decode the story and at first it was a refreshing and interesting take on the usual written form. I kept getting tired though and found that I couldn’t read more than a couple pages at a time without becoming frustrated.

There were ups and downs for me with CBD, but overall it’s a delightful idea, a modern take on a fun, relevant topic, and definitely original.