Twenty Questions. Mac Barnett. Illustrated by Christian Robinson. 2023. [March] 40 pages. [Source: Library]
First sentence: How many animals can you see in this picture? How many animals can you not see in this one because they're hiding from the tiger?
Premise/plot: Twenty Questions is a book of...you guessed it...twenty questions. The first two questions seem to flow into one another. You might get the idea that the whole book flows together. (It doesn't). The questions relate (somewhat???) to the illustrations. But there are no answers--obvious answers or more subtle answers--to the questions. (Except perhaps the first spread which literally asks readers to count the animals on the page. Again giving a false impression of the type of questions the author will be asking). The questions are more of the "out of the blue" and "huh" sort. Questions like, "Which of these ladies just robbed a bank?" and "Which of these children is dreaming of peaches?" I know kids are supposedly known for asking a million random questions, but, this book seems to push even that.
My thoughts: What if this book wasn't by Mac Barnett? Would it have been published at all? Would it be receiving positive reviews? Would the publishers be taking a chance on this one if say, for example, it was by a first time author? Can Mac Barnett get away with publishing anything? Who wrote the jacket flap? Did the person who wrote the jacket flap sincerely mean it? Is there ANY part of this book that is profound? Playful, one of the descriptions, I can see. But profound? And charming?
The book is pointless. Quirky, yes, but also extremely pointless. Unless (traditional) story narratives are not your thing. I mean I guess there could be some readers who hate books that have an actual story, actual plot, actual characters, actual reason to exist. (Yes, this one has a reason to exist. I'm sure. I won't spell out what it is. But you might can guess.)
© 2023 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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