MetaFiction For the Elementary School Crowd
At the outset I thought this might end up being a sort of "Monster at the End of This Book" kind of tale. I was wrong. This is a sly, witty, and marvelously inventive book with an exceptionally sophisticated approach to word play, drawing, and the idea of what a book is. The fact that it is funny and entertaining, and that it is perfectly accessible to even the youngest reader is pretty amazing.
The premise is simple enough. Chapter Two of the book has been stolen. Our narrator, with the help of a detective, tries to figure out the how and why of the crime, and tries to prove that the perp is the book's janitor. As you might imagine, there were lots of ways for the author and illustrator to go here. I did not expect a deconstruction of what a book, or what a written word, is.
On the drawing side, the main action is drawn in a spare and cartoony style, with simple lines and color washes. The fun is in the backgrounds, where there are loads of clever little jokes and puns. (In the background there may be a box labeled "Word Bubbles - Emergency Use Only", or a case of "Unsatisfying Conclusi...".) That's good stuff.
There is a lot of playing around with type and fonts. In one chapter Milo the janitor hides a bunch of M's, and in a later chapter those missing M's keep the hero from declaring that .ilo is the thief. Really? In a kid's book we're joking around with text and type? And doing funny bits about punctuation?
The jokes are clever but still easy to understand. There are puns, double-talk, "who's on first" type stuff, and deadpan throwaways. Silly and smart are blended nicely.
So, this is a fun and consistently entertaining book that displays tremendous faith in its young readers. A nice find. (Please note that I had a chance to read a free ecopy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)