If you laugh, I'm starting this book over

Following a list of rules that reiterate the titular conceit, this picture book's narrator addresses the audience in emphatic typography: "I have something that I really want to tell you. It's a BIG THING. And it's very serious." What is it? The only way listening audiences will find out is by remaining utterly poker-faced. If they laugh even once, the reader is instructed to start the book all over again. But while Harris (The Alphabet's Alphabet) and co-conspirator Bloch (I Voted) say one thing, they do quite another: each page's "don't laugh" admonition is actually a highly interactive attempt to make readers ROTFL. Comic mileage varies as the verbal and visual slapstick proliferates--in one spread, the narrator solemnly announces their "real name," Chicken McStinkbreath Eyeball, and the accompanying ink and digitally collaged artwork offers a reaction shot from a flabbergasted green fowl with bloodshot eyes. The big reveal turns out to be a mushy grown-up sentiment, but the pages that precede it give license for the kind of no-holds-barred readaloud that should tickle younger audiences. Ages 4--8. Author's agent: Richard Abate, 3Arts. Illustrator's agent: Marlena Torzecka, Marlena Agency. (Sept.)

Harris' latest makes an urgent plea for somber reflection. "Stop! Stop!! Stop!!!" Right from the get-go, readers are presented with three rules for reading this book ("Don't look at this book!" "Do look at your listener!" "Get your listener to look at you!"). But the true lesson is in the title itself: If anyone listening to this book laughs, you have to start it all over. Challenge accepted? Good. Sheer frenetic energy propels what passes for a narrative as the book uses every trick up its sleeve to give kids the giggles. Silly names, ridiculous premises, and kooky art combine, all attempting some level of hilarity. Bloch's art provides a visual cacophony of collaged elements, all jostling for the audience's attention. Heavily influenced by similar fourth wall--busting titles like The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (1992) by Jon Scieszka, illustrated by Lane Smith, and the more contemporary The Book With No Pictures (2014) by B.J. Novak, these attempts to win over readers and make them laugh will result in less giggles than one might imagine. In the end, the ultimate success of this book may rest less on the art or text and more on the strength of the reader's presentation. (This book was reviewed digitally.) Desperation confused for hysterics. (Picture book. 4-7) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Following a list of rules that reiterate the titular conceit, this picture book's narrator addresses the audience in emphatic typography: "I have something that I really want to tell you. It's a BIG THING. And it's very serious." What is it? The only way listening audiences will find out is by remaining utterly poker-faced. If they laugh even once, the reader is instructed to start the book all over again. But while Harris (The Alphabet's Alphabet) and co-conspirator Bloch (I Voted) say one thing, they do quite another: each page's "don't laugh" admonition is actually a highly interactive attempt to make readers ROTFL. Comic mileage varies as the verbal and visual slapstick proliferates—in one spread, the narrator solemnly announces their "real name," Chicken McStinkbreath Eyeball, and the accompanying ink and digitally collaged artwork offers a reaction shot from a flabbergasted green fowl with bloodshot eyes. The big reveal turns out to be a mushy grown-up sentiment, but the pages that precede it give license for the kind of no-holds-barred readaloud that should tickle younger audiences. Ages 4–8. Author's agent: Richard Abate, 3Arts. Illustrator's agent: Marlena Torzecka, Marlena Agency. (Sept.)