Readers of Amy Krouse Rosenthal's more than 30 kids' books (Chopstick; Spoon; Duck! Rabbit!) or Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, her 2005 collection of lists of moments and memories, count on the unexpected. In the interactive Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, the nontraditional, introspective, often hilarious author presents another new format. Why textbook? Four reasons: it can mean "quintessential"; it covers a particular subject; it's a nice choice for an author who previously wrote an "Encyclopedia"; and readers can text Amy! Learn how on page 4.
A "Condition of the Book" checklist leads to a "Pre-Assessment" quiz. (When you look at a picture of a heart, is your first thought "love" or "broken?") A panoply of multiple-choice questions involving ceiling fan strings, headbands and Pillsbury Cinnamon Roll tubes sets the tone of absurdity; the one choice given for the question "You" is "Make me not afraid of getting old."
Divided into nine chapters with academic headings, Textbook is full of sketches, photos, charts, even blank pages (to illustrate that "The music is not in the notes, but in the silence between"). "Romance Language" is a mini-biography in poems about verb tense. "Math" asks "(Patience + Silence) x Coffee = " and "(Patience + Silence) x Beer = " and later offers the formula for the Rosenthal House Special Pea Dip.
Rosenthal cannot resist wordplay. She ponders describing her non-kids' books: "adult" sounds porn-y, "grown-up" infantilizing. And her conclusion is a reflection on "How to Say Good-Bye." Finish reading it; then, because you can, text "End Notes" to receive special farewell music. --Cheryl Krocker McKeon, manager, Book Passage, San Francisco