What Is Inside THIS Box?

What Is Inside This Box? (Monkey and Cake #1) Drew Daywalt. Illustrated by Olivier Tallec. 2019. Scholastic. 56 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Hello, Monkey. Hello, Cake. What do you have? I have a box. It is a big box.

Premise/plot: Monkey believes that inside this box there is a magic cat. Open the box, the cat is not there. Close the box, it is. Cake, however, believes that inside the box there is a magic dinosaur. Who is right? And does it matter?

My thoughts: This early reader is unique and quirky--at least on the surface. At first glance, this one is over-the-top silly. But I don't think it's meant to be taken solely that way. I think it is supposed to get readers thinking deeper. If that isn't the case, why would there be a note to readers asking them questions like...

• Do you believe in things you can't see?
• Do people you know believe in things you don't believe in?
• What do you believe in?

So this book addresses an abstract subject in a silly, light-hearted way. How much sillier can you get than a talking piece of cake?

I do not want to over think this book. I do not want to over think this book. I do not want to over think this book. I'm tempted to though. Let's just leave it as if taken too seriously--taken too far, this one is a theological mess.

© 2018 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews