A Story No One Has Ever Heard Before

September 15, 2023
A sly, silly, metafictive storytelling how-to guide. Steinberg playfully breaks the fourth wall to address a diverse cast of children depicted in digital cartoon art. The narrator explains that this is "a story no one has ever heard before" and adds, "I am not going to be the one to tell this story." Gazing wide-eyed, the kids balk. "Wait, what?" "You're not?'" two children ask in speech-balloon dialogue. "You are!" replies the narrator. Ensuing pages cleverly avoid having the children actually tell a story. Instead, the narrator offers guidance on what every tale needs: a character, conflict, a climax, and a resolution. Along the way, the narrator also suggests a few possible--and hilarious--scenarios. Maybe the protagonist could be a talking carrot who encounters a potato covered in literal eyes (a fun visual pun). Or a stressed extraterrestrial who journeys through space for some R&R. Or a compassionate knight (depicted with light skin) who'd rather lend a hand to an ogre in need than vanquish a dragon. A concluding spread presents a Mad Libs-style page held in the hands of several children. Readers will feel as though they share the children's visual perspective and will be eager to engage with the narrative. Inspired and dynamic, this one will stir burgeoning writers to try their hand at storytelling. Kids will want to listen to this one again and again for creative inspiration. (Picture book. 4-10)

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September 1, 2023

K-Gr 2-With engaging humor and quirky illustrations, this read-aloud friendly book will enliven ELA instruction about story elements with young writers trying their hand at creating narratives. With its higher-level vocabulary, turns of phrase, and particular text order, it speaks to its intended early elementary audience best with the help of a teacher or librarian as lead readers. The book highlights the role of a main character and the creation of a problem, suggests story choices to "worsen" a problem, then reveals how climactic scenes and concluding resolutions wrap up a cohesive storyline. While a first-person narrator's voice offers dry humor and positive instructional phrases to help define and briefly explain these elements, Steinberg pairs this text with cartoonlike illustrations and speech bubbles for three separate stories to serve as ongoing examples of each new story element introduced. Bright flat colors, set beside grayscale forms, draw the eye towards each essential character and their actions, depicting a school-going carrot, a wandering alien, and a caring knight. Often, the happenings and dialogue of the three unrelated stories share space on the same page spread, without visible dividers, while many illustrative details showcasing character traits or decisions remain small, so it may prove necessary for an adult to guide the reading. Most speech bubbles reveal the characters' intentions or traits, inviting the opportunity for the lead reader to use different voices and decide on the most sensible reading order between the narrator's text and those of the three stories. VERDICT This amusing book reveals a contagious enthusiasm for creating original stories with strong characters, problems, and solutions, though navigating the busy page spreads may require guidance to avoid confusion.-Rachel Mulligan

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