First sentence: My name is Mark Pett, and THIS IS MY BOOK! I am the author, and that means I get to write all the words. I am also the illustrator, so I get to make all of the pictures, too. Here, I'll draw something. This is Percy the Perfectly Polite Panda. He's going to help me explain the rules of my book. "I prefer to be called Spike." I drew you. I get to name you.
Premise/plot: Once Mark draws SPIKE, the book ceases to be his book. Though I must say Mark fights valiantly for sole control throughout. Spike--and those Spike draws--soon have a say in the action and characterization. Who does this book really belong to?
My thoughts: I enjoyed this one. I don't love metafiction for the sake of metafiction. But I happened to enjoy this one. (Though I'm not sure I enjoyed it more than Ryan T. Higgins' Be Quiet. I loved, loved, loved that book so much!!!) Spike is a super-fun character who loves the creative process of making a book. He disagrees with Mark on almost every page. I liked it best when Spike decided the book needed a flap and a pop-up.
Text: 4 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 7 out of 10
© 2017 Becky Laney of Young Readers
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