21. It's a Book

So many things about this book make me laugh. (I love how the monkey's head creates one of the o's in the title.) It's a conversation between a monkey and a jackass. Sitting in armchairs, the jackass with his laptop and the monkey with his book, they represent the conflict between old and new forms of entertainment. Jackass cannot understand the appeal of this book thing...it doesn't have wi-fi, make noise, text, or tweet. What use could it have?


It's not until Monkey opens up a page of his book that Jackass becomes interested (though he hilariously turns the story into a three-line text message). Now, all of a sudden, he is drawn into the power of the books. Hours pass by and he is captivated-- he won't even give the book back, but promises to charge it.

And, of course, the reader learns that for all their gadgets and gizmos, technology just can't compare to the wonder found in a well-written book. The story is told without narration (except for the brilliant double page spread of the pages of the pirate book), going back and forth with Jackass and Monkey's dialogue. Each single page illustration shows us something new about their conversation. (We turn the page to see what Jackass will ask about next.) To keep the two characters' dialogue from being confusing, each character's words have their own font style and color.

Smith uses a muted palette with lots of browns, grays, and pale primary colors. Even the backgrounds of the pages shift slightly from one muted color to next. In fact the only consistent colors are those of the main characters and their armchairs. He can express so much emotion in his cartoon-like characters, with the raise of an eyebrow or the droop of an ear. There are very few backgrounds, just the animals in their chairs. (This leads to the deadpan feel of the humor.) But that's the point...having elaborate pictures with rich backgrounds would overwhelm the story. The illustrations were first done in brush and ink, then textures were added using oil paint. Finally, they were sprayed with an acrylic spray to give the mottled look that is evident in the book.


Lane Smith's It's a Book (2010) has an elegant simplicity that teaches us that though books may not be as 'fancy' as technology...they're still awesome. Though I don't see books going away anytime soon, I still think we need this reminder every once in a while.

One word of note: at the very end of the book, there is a naughty punch line. Some parents/teachers might find it inappropriate for kids; others might see no harm in it. You can leave it out and it won't change the meaning, if it bothers you. I plan on reading it to my 4th graders. They will giggle at every page, just like I did.