17 Things I'm Not Allowed to Do Anymore
by Jenny Offill and Nancy Carpenter
Excuse me a moment.
Buahahahahahahahaha. Heeheeheee. *snort* hooohaaaheeehooohaa! (wipes away tear).
Okay, I'm back.
This is the funniest picture book I. Have. Ever. Read.
You must now picture me grabbing you by the lapels and shaking you hard: "You must buy this book! You must! You will regret it if you don't!"
I hope I didn't hurt you. Just being emphatic, is all. Feel free to add extra exclamation points; I think I've used my quota.
The girl on the cover is the kind of willful, recidivist imp whose imaginary friends must all be nervous around her. We start with her stapling her brother's hair to the pillow, and it goes downhill from there. She walks backwards to school--stopping traffic--and flashes her panties and, oh dear, just about everything awful. And awfully funny.
Each page repeats, "I had an idea to do X ... I'm not allowed to do X anymore," which gets more brazen and amusing as her calculated terrors add up. The pen-and-ink characters are fully realized, including our mussy-haired protagonist, drawn with a minimalist's attention to each stroke of the pen. They inhabit a digitally remade world of "real" artifacts refitted to the page, even down to their plastic desks or the crossing guard's vest.
This is a brilliantly executed concept, dropping simple figures into a complex environment; even the text was printed out, crumpled and roughed up with an emory board to achieve that faux stressed look that fits the girl's blithely destructive personality.
But will a real kid appreciate all this? Only if she's old enough to pretend not to know better.
Rating: *\*\*\*\
It's such a funny book. Junior reads this one repeatedly.
"Recidivist imp"--great phrase, Anne!
Posted by: Susan | March 07, 2007 at 07:05 AM
It's up there with Mini Grey's "Traction Man" as one of the more richly imagined children's books. Funny stuff.
Posted by: Anne | March 07, 2007 at 07:51 AM
Just read this today at the library. Loved it. Can't wait to show it to my girls, who are on the older end of picture book appreciation being seven and ten. But this seems like the kind of picture book that needs an older kid perspective to really get it.
Posted by: MotherReader | March 08, 2007 at 04:37 PM
Yes, MR, I agree. I think its humor is largely lost on 4-6 y.o. but I've been wrong before.
Posted by: Anne | March 08, 2007 at 06:13 PM
Great review. The book seems to provoke a strong response in people, positively and negatively (though I think the positives outnumber the negs by quite a bit).
Notice the interesting cultural divide being expressed in the comments area over at Amazon.com where the book is being sold. Notice also that Barnes and Noble seems to be refusing to carry the book in stores, presumably due to fear of courting "controversy."
Posted by: Mr Blifil | October 22, 2007 at 08:43 AM
I didn't know that about B&N. How sad that people don't get the wry humor, or somehow think their little girl will be the only one without a rebellious streak.
All great characters -- in books for kids and grownups -- are larger than life. The girl in "17 Things" is no more realistic than Harry Potter. But then, look at all the folks who hate him too.
Thanks for stopping by, Mr. B.
Posted by: Anne | October 22, 2007 at 10:27 AM