Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Not a Box by Antoinette Portis

Not a Box
HarperCollins, New York, 2006.
Hardcover edition, 32 pages, ISBN: 978-0061123221.

Wrapped in brown cardboard paper and weighing a mere 11.5 oz. Net Wt., this item, which is clearly "not a box" needs to be handled "This Side Up".

"Why/what are you sitting (doing, squirting, wearing, standing) in/on this box?" asks an omniscient voice, page after page.

The simple line-drawn bunny accompanied by his suspiciously box-like object repeatedly disabuses the notion of boxhood by responding to the series of queries with increasing fervor, "It's NOT NOT NOT NOT a box!"

The object has, after all, been miraculously transformed by imagination into a racecar (mountain peak, burning house, robot, crow's nest, tugboat, hot air balloon, elephant howdah).

An easy beginning read with repetitive patterns, this little gem also invites small ones to create their own possibilities and visions for "outside of the box" thinking.

Provides a wonderful centerpiece for a "Bring your own Box" decorating event.

ALA Notable Children's Book Winner
Theodore Seuss Geisel Honor Book, 2007.

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