The Wrong Book by Drew Daywalt (review)
Adam McConville · Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books./Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books · 2023
Reviewed by: The Wrong Book by Drew Daywalt Adam McConville Daywalt, Drew The Wrong Book; illus. by Alex Willmore. Philomel, 2024 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593621967 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593621974 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys R 4-8 yrs Guided by an unseen narrator, a yellow bookmark listens in on a game of sight and sound identification: “This is an apple. . . . And apples go CRUNCH CRUNCH CRUNCH when you eat them!” All is right so far, but does a pretty pink flower really go “CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOOOO CHOOOO!!!!” like the narrator claims? The bookmark senses something’s wrong, confirmed by the fact that the cute puppy on the next page definitely isn’t a bicycle like the narrator says. As the facts grow more and more silly (a firefighter is NOT an elephant, and schools of firefighters definitely don’t swim in the ocean), the frustrated bookmark attempts to set things straight, only to realize that it might be more fun just to roll with the absurdity. The dry, winking narration and the increasingly animated frustration of the bookmark give this picture book solid storytime potential, and kids ready to identify the mistakes they see and hear will find their comments reflected in the beleaguered bookmark’s dialogue. Willmore’s pencil, ink, and digital art initially uses bright, solid-colored backgrounds that let each mislabeled subject and the bookmark’s white dialogue boxes pop off the page. The compositions go askew along with the “facts” as white hand-lettering blares out each new noise and more [End Page 173] colors are introduced, leading to a two-page spread of the bookmark dancing across ripped-up paper. A silly romp that would be a fine companion to Uytdewilligen’s This is Not My Story (BCCB 5/23), this is also a lesson to viewers that being right isn’t always as important as having fun. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois