Bibliography: Fucile, Tony. (2009). Let’s Do Nothing. Somervlle, MA: Candlewick Press. ISBN: 9780763634407
Review: I don’t usually review picture books, but when this one showed up in my mailbox, I was so tickled by it that I wanted to share it with just about everyone I know. (My mom has already gone out and bought a copy for a future grandchild…and I showed it briefly to a friend at work, and she immediately asked me if HER grandson could have it after I had reviewed it. So D., this book will coming your way soon.)
From the first look at the cover with it’s active and bold black letters and blue rug and animated style, to the prologue where the same two boys are shown collpased and exhausted asking, “What are we going to do now?” Frankie and Sal draw you into to their busy lives where they take the challenge after having done EVERYTHING (played sports,painted pictures, made cookies, played games and read comic books) to do NOTHING. And it should be simple, right? Just sit in a chair and do nothing. Be statues in the park, trees in a forest, skyscrapers in the city. But adding a little imagination and wit to the mix, and they realize doing nothing is harder than it sounds.
Fucile has been an animator of major feature films, first for Disney and more recently for Pixar. It shows in both the style and action in the art work for this book. The story is simple, but the sly humor of the artwork really add to it, as art in all good picture books should. Also the layout and sequencing of events is well done, with page turns in the right place making this a great read aloud for the 5 to 7 year old crowd. This would be a great book to buy and put aside for the next time your child says, “I’m bored. There’s never anything to do!” And yet, I think this book stretches to reach older children, teens, and even adults. Can any of us say that we don’t have moments in our lives when we want to stop, lie down on the floor and do ten seconds of nothing?
The folks at Candlewick have loaded all kinds of goodies related to the book to their site. A book trailer animated by Fucile shows one of the spreads from the book. You can also read a Q & A with Fucile.
Review excerpt: “Fucile renders his characters against a blue-washed bedroom background, the imaginary sequences in full color with each boy visible as a set of eyes (in Frankie’s case, glasses) staring at the reader out of statue, tree trunk or building. His background in animation makes itself felt in the dialogue-based text and exquisite sense of pacing and visual humor. Sal and Frankie’s conclusion-that doing nothing is a lot harder than it looks-will ring true with readers young and old.” –Kirkus Reviews
