With only two words, Jeff Mack's (Ah Ha!) primarily visual narrative shows how books bring us together in ways that technology cannot.
A gorilla enters, scratching its head with the left hand while holding a blue book in the right. Then the gorilla tries wearing the book, and taps the back of a blond boy engrossed in a television program: "Look," says the gorilla. The child ignores the furry creature. The gorilla balances the book on its nose ("Look Look") while waving an arm in front of the TV screen. The child bats the gorilla away and introduces the volume's second word: "Look out." Mack distinguishes who says what by representing the gorilla's words in crayon, and the boy's words in an array of type fonts that emulates collage. As the gorilla's antics grow wilder, the child grows increasingly annoyed ("Look out!," the boy cries). A mishap while juggling books on a tricycle ends with the gorilla destroying the television. Mack creates a two-page spread with a lifelike reproduction of a page that's been torn to reveal the red-faced boy shouting "Out! Out! Out!" After the gorilla exits, the child strikes a pose similar to the one the gorilla opened with, staring at a red book and scratching his head. The gorilla sheepishly returns, and the boy, with the book open, invites the gorilla in with "Look."
While the gorilla saw the book as an attention-getting prop, the boy's desire to share what he finds within its pages brings them together. Ideal for beginning readers and storytime. --Jennifer M. Brown, children's editor, Shelf Awareness