Let's Do Nothing!

by Tony Fucile

Don't move! A master of animation explores the elusive art of doing nothing in this comical tale of two very active imaginations.

Frankie and Sal have already played every sport and board game invented, baked and eaten batches of cookies, and painted a zillion pictures. What's left to do? Nothing! Ten seconds of nothing! Can they do it? Can they act like stone statues in the park? Can they simply hold their breath and not blink an eye? With a wink to the reader and a command of visual humor, feature film animator Tony Fucile demonstrates the Zen-like art of doing nothing...oops! Couldn't do it!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Friendship, Fiction, Storytime, Realistic Fiction

40 pages, Hardcover

First published May 4, 2009

About the author

Tony Fucile has spent over twenty years designing and animating characters for cartoon feature films. During the first fifteen years, he put pencil to paper to help bring life to characters from The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, The Lion King, and The Iron Giant. And in the last six years, he put mouse to mouse pad for the Oscar-winning Finding Nemo and The Incredibles, for which he was a Supervising Animator. Tony's first picture book for children, Let's Do Nothing!, will be released by Candlewick Press in Spring 2009. He's currently working on a chapter book series by Kate DiCamillo and Alison McGhee about two friends named Bink and Golly. He's also excited to begin work on Mitchell's License, a picture book by Hallie Durand to be published by Candlewick Press.

Tony was born in San Francisco and currently resides nearby with his wife, Stacey, their two kids, Eli and Elinor, and two Chihuahuas (Pedro and Kahlua).

Reviews

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cute story about two young friends who think they’ve done everything and don’t know what to do next. So, they try doing nothing. The outcome is predictable but delightful.

I love how the story starts before the title page. I love how the dog sleeps on the bed all the way through the story.

I love the imaginativeness shown while attempting to do nothing. I definitely chuckled a few times; there are many pages that are amusing.

Every kid, of all ages, will identify with the dilemma of these two boys.

I can’t say I enjoyed the art; I didn’t like the style. But the expressiveness of the boys was great and the pictures perfectly fit the story.

The kids looked young and their referring to Van Gogh didn’t really ring authentic to me; I think most kids would say (and know) something else re painting pictures.

3 ½ stars

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love, love, love this book. I love reading it to myself. I really loved reading it out loud. I loved making sounds to go with it. I loved watching the children's faces as I read it. I loved the voices I was able to do with it. I love the humor. I love the cheerfulness of the illustrations.

I just love it. There might not be some who will think it as great as I did. But it fits right into my humor of late. And I loved it.

Perfect lead in to the craft part of storytime, too.

5/8/13: It took the group a bit to see what was going on in some pictures, but on their own they started to act like the boys in trying to sit still. They laughed at Frankie's imagination. But the ending seemed a bit lost on them as well as some of the adults. Oh well.

6/10/15 Used in Friends theme. They really liked the pictures. They kind of got the ending, too. I think I had more of the older than I get in the school year.

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a hilarious book about the difficulties of doing...nothing. Trying not to make a noise or fidget is almost impossible for most children (and probably many adults, too!) We had a lot of fun reading this book together and pointing out how hard it was for the boys to do nothing. Then we tried it ourselves, attempting to be motionless for even just a few seconds and laughing at our funny poses and faces. This would be great for a group read aloud, too. We've read this book a couple of times, and I really enjoyed it when our girls read the dialogue to me, each taking a part.

[Kathryn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the way this book begins. And, of course, most of us can remember being kids and feeling like there is "nothing to do." But, in this case, the best friends take that to a whole new level and actually actively try to DO NOTHING. The results are both fun and surprising for them. The beginning of the book is really fun and creative--I had fun with them in their "do nothing" endeavors thoughout although the ending wasn't really a surprise to me.

[Tasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frankie and Sal have done it all: played every sport, painted pictures, baked cookies, played board games, and read every comic book. So they decide to do something they have never done before! Nothing! They try again and again to do nothing at all, but it doesn’t work. When they pretend to be statues, Sal has to swat away the pigeons. When they think of themselves as trees, Sal imagines that Frankie’s dog pees on him. When they are tall buildings, Sal is scaled by King Kong. In the end, they decide that they have to start doing something after all because it is impossible to do nothing.

The common problem of boredom is paired here with a sense of humor. The two boys imagine themselves as different things, but Sal always has his glasses even as a tree or building. The King Kong sequence is especially funny as sharp-eyed readers will spot the hand of Kong even as Sal reassures Frankie that he is doing great. The relationship between the two boys is also very well done. The boys are different as can be but their friendship is never in jeopardy in the book. It is a great and subtly delivered message behind the action.

A rousing read aloud for any bored child, this book will refresh long summer days filled with free time. Appropriate for ages 4-7.

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 5 out of 5]

My six year-old's review: "I LOVE this book! Can we read it one more time?"

*I loved this book too. Frankie and Sal are faced with a dilemma that plagues every child at some point...especially during the summer months. Boredom. They have played with every toy, painted every picture, cooked every cookie, played every board game, and read every comic book...what's next? Nothing. Frankie and Sal humorously attempt to do nothing with a handful of scenarios that had me and my son giggling like hyenas. The illustrations are equally humorous and capture the unique personalities of both Frankie and Sal. Frankie's facial expressions and reactions are especially brilliant.

Everyone should read this book :D

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title of this story really pulled my attention to it with great wondering of what it would be about. This is such a neat little story and a great lesson for kids. As a young child you would rather just do nothing than to do anything at all, so I think this is a great way to show kids that it isn't always possible to just do NOTHING! I love the great detail of this story and the illustrations. This is a perfect WOW book for me to use in my classroom and do an entire lesson on the things we have to do and the times where we can sit and relax, but is it really doing NOTHING? Definitely a book I want to add to my classroom library!

[Kelly (Maybedog) · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Great story. The ending is something I thought as soon as I heard the title but kids won't get that. I don't like the artwork much. It's fine but not great. But as Lisa says, the dog on the bed is fabulous and earns it another half star.

[Claudia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok -- my shallow reason for reading this? Well. I was shelving the 'Everybody' books, and I checked the author name to help alphabetize: on the spine was "FUC". I spent entirely too much time with smart-alecky high school students, and I admit I snorted. That would cause gales of laughter...sorry. Not sorry.

The book is fun and silly. Two little boys try do 'do nothing.' Absolutely NOTHING. Hilarity ensues.

Like the hilarity high school and middle school students would have with the author label on the spine.

[Amanda Brooke · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kids today might relate to this after being through covid shutdowns and quarantines.

[Amy Seto · Rating 5 out of 5]

Frankie and Sal are bored. They’ve done it all. Played sports, painted pictures, baked, played board games, read all the comic books. What else can they do? How about 10 seconds of nothing! Although it starts off well, Frankie’s overactive imagination gets the better of him in each scenario of nothing that Sal dreams up. Then Sal has a BIG, a REALLY BIG realization: there is absolutely no way to do nothing! Sal and Frankie know that they’re geniuses and they know exactly what to do next, “Let’s do something!”

Fucile spent over twenty years designing and animating for cartoon feature films and you can see how his experience has influenced his artistic style. The ink, pencil, and acrylic illustrations are cinematic, alternating between wide shots that capture the boys’ environment and close ups that isolate the actions and reactions of the two characters. The text is all dialogue, with Frankie’s words in bold and Sal’s in regular font so the reader can easily distinguish one from the other.

Full Review at Picture-Book-a-Day: http://picturebookaday.blogspot.com/2...

[Amy Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I first read the description for Let’s Do Nothing! I was totally excited to pick it up from the library and read it, and when I finally did get the chance to read it I was not disappointed! Tony Fucile does an outstanding job getting the reader’s attention right out the gate! The two friends in book are trying to nothing because they think they have already done everything they could. The humorous book will have you laughing out loud from beginning to end. The pictures enhance the book, and helps you pick up details about the characters that the author doesn't come right out and say. If you would read this to your classroom, you could have a discussion about how when you’re bored there is always something you can do; you can never not be doing anything. I highly recommend this book, and would definitely purchase my own copy to add to my personal library.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Frankie and Sal are best buddies. But they’ve done it all – played every sport, every board game, every activity they can think of. So what should they do next? They’ve got it – they’ll try something they’ve never done before! Nothing! They’ll do NOTHING for the whole afternoon. So Frankie decides they should act like statues, and stay perfectly still. But Frankie imagines that pigeons are coming to land on him, and he starts fidgeting and pushing them away. No matter what Sal decides, Frankie’s overactive imagination comes up with some reason he just can’t sit still. This hilarious book celebrates friendship, imagination and two boys’ utter inability to sit still. Large pictures make it great for reading to a crowd.

[Gwen the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, humorous picture book that celebrates the imagination. Sal and Frankie have done it all. Now they're going to try to do nothing. But Frankie can't quite do nothing because if he imagines he's a statue, he also imagines pigeons all over him. If Frankie imagines he's the Empire State Building, he imagines King Kong climbing up him and he just has to react! Finally, the boys realize that even when you're doing nothing, you have to do something because you're always breathing.

The illustrations are clasic and really fun to explore. They really make the book. Try this one with your wiggliest wigglers.

[Diana Hanke · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great book! Following the antics of Frankie and Sal, two young boys who feel like they have done everything, Fucile shares their attempts to do nothing. As Frankie suggests different situations that will lead to their nothing state, Sal finds it difficult to remain nothing. Eventually the activity leads to the discovery that their attempts were futile, and they set out to do something. It is laugh out loud funny, and the playful cartoon characters will draw kids into the story.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I passed by this book on more than one occasion and didn't bother to pick it up because I thought I wouldn't like it. I really thought it was going to be a preachy book about poor kids with over-scheduled lives. Not so. (Not really.) I liked these boys and the art was fun. My bad for judging a book by its cover.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A humorous picture book about two boys, Frankie and Sal, who try to do absolutely nothing for ten minutes. However, it's hard to do nothing when you have an active imagination. The reader can predict that this won't be easy, but the visual humor is still unexpectedly delightful. Frankie's statue covered with pigeons and his King Kong will leave readers giggling.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, interactive read aloud! I read it to a group of 3rd graders without--gulp--having read it first. (They had already heard my initial choice). It went great! We were able to predict several parts of it and acted out the "doing nothing" parts to the joy of e everyone!

[Carlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book shows how our minds are constantly busy being creative and imagining even though we think that we may be doing "nothing", we are always doing "something". It encourages the use of creativity and imagination.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book a whole bunch. It is perfect for those summer camp visits for the k-4 graders. Hilarious!


Also, this was our mock caldecott winner.

[Cosette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great book for a big brother to read to his sister.

[Stefanie Burns · Rating 3 out of 5]

Silly books about two boys who think they've done everything so they decide to do nothing. Only to realize that it is not easy to do nothing. At least not for the one boy. His imagination works overboard for him! This book will elicit giggles and laughs though I'm not sure kids will get all the references. There is a King Kong reference and an Empire State Building one. There might need to be some scaffolding depending on who is reading the story. Just like a tv show based on nothing (Seinfeld) was a funny show, so is this book.

[Elysabeth McClure · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a charming story! The story of “Let’s Do Nothing,” by Tony Fucile follows two boys, Frankie and Sal. They have done everything imaginable and are now seeking for the next best thing to do. The idea pops up that they should do absolutely nothing at all. This proves to be a bit more difficult than the boys had thought as they attempt to do everything, finding they’d rather do absolutely nothing.

There was so much humor in the story, I had such a great time reading it. I love the relationship between the two friends and I feel like a lot of young students could relate to it.

[Gabe Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's do nothing is a classic story of imagination and using that to create a world of your own. The two different kids the story depicts are the classic kids you see in many classrooms and homes across the world. One with the more literal imagination and the other with such an active one you don't know when he's being serious or not. I think that this book is great for students to let their own imaginations take over and show what they think our everyday world looks like in their head. The art as well is very fun an intriguing, as it is full of color and life.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a cute story of two little boys who seem to have done everything and decide to do nothing. Sal and Frankie are two friends who decide they are going to try and do nothing. Frankie is having trouble pretending to be a statue or a tree because he keeps thinking of things that happen to statues and trees (bird infestations and peeing dogs). My son was laughing out loud at this book and we had fun reading it together. It was easy enough for him to read by himself as well.

[Indy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dialogues between creative Sal and imaginative Frankie about what they should do to kill time. After they had done so much to occupy themselves, Sal decided that they could do nothing this time. However, with Frankie's imagination running wild, it's very difficult for both of them to do nothing. Therefore, they decided to let themselves run wild and do something again. It would bring a smile on your face reading Frankie's childish imagination.

[Miranda Gonzalez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony Fucile wrote an amazing story about two little boys who want to do nothing and then realize they want to do something. Throughout the story you see the boys using their imaginations to become different things. each thing the boys become they quickly get bored or irritated with it and move on. This was a great heartfelt story about two little boys using their imagination on a random day to keep themselves busy doing nothing.

[Nicole · Rating 5 out of 5]

Genre: Fiction
Grades: Pre-K-3rd

I really enjoyed this book, especially for those students who always say " I'm bored". I would use this book as a challenge to them to try to do nothing. I appreciate the use of visualization of the young men as they attempt to do nothing and the different ideas they have as they are doing nothing. This book is fun and using expressive language while reading this book would bring it to like and engage any group of students.

[Jenna Guggenmos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was entertaining, and set up differently. It started out introducing the characters subtilty. Then, once they come up for what they are going to do for the day, there is the title page. This book could be engaging for young kids, and help them realize they are doing something, this could blow their minds. A little conspiracy theory moment. This is good for kids because it gets them thinking.

[Deana Metzke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's Do Nothing is about two boys who think they have done it all, so they are trying to do the opposite--nothing. However, because their imagination won't let Frankie and Sal rest, they struggle doing nothing. But their struggles give us giggles, which makes this a great read aloud book for K-3 students.