Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2016)

Using panels, text bubbles, and vibrant splashes of color in his mixed-media illustrations, Santat sets a family on the road to Grandma's birthday party. But this isn't any old road-trip story. Illustrations guide readers to turn the book upside-down, and the settings grow increasingly outlandish. While the text occasionally veers toward adult-centeredness, the visuals are so inventive that young readers won't mind.

Starred Review ALA Booklist (Mon Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2016)

Starred Review Following his Caldecott win for The Adventures of Beekle (2014), Santat offers an imaginative account of a boy's car trip to his grandmother's birthday party. What begins in excitement quickly devolves into boredom as minutes stretch into an hour. But then, readers are invited to consider what happens when their brain grows "too bored." Let the interactive reading begin! The words begin to spiral around a spread featuring the boy's glazed expression, forcing the book to be rotated and read upside down. Suddenly, the slow-moving time transports the car back in history, placing it alongside a steam locomotive, a pirate ship, a jousting knight, and the newly built Sphinx in Cairo. The whole time, the parents appear startled by the changing scenery, but the boy's complaints ("My butt hurts") continue until time stretches all the way back to the dinosaur-filled Jurassic period. Finally, he starts having fun, and time starts to fly; back around the book goes, sending the family to Grandma's at last. The gambit to get kids involved in the story works, and Santat's rich illustrations nging from double-page spreads to comic-style panels rry it home. The text, on the other hand, reads a bit like greeting-card advice, but the inventive format and engrossing artwork will make kids happy to go along for the ride.

School Library Journal (Fri Jan 01 00:00:00 CST 2016)

PreS-Gr 3 This imaginative take on the never-ending car ride is filled with surprises. Santat, creator of Caldecott Medal-winning The Adventures of Beekle: The Unimaginary Friend (Little, Brown, 2014), begins this story with an invitation to Grandma's birthday party, featured on the copyright page. The kid in the backseat is eager for the trip, but after the first hour, he is tired and cranky. Remarks like "Are we there yet?" and "This is taking forever" serve only to annoy his parents. Despite drawing paper, electronic games, a book, and several toys, including a monkey and dinosaur, the child is bored. "But what happens when your brain becomesTOO bored?" This question is spread over the top, down the recto side, and upside down at the bottom of the verso, causing readers to turn the book around as they read. An arrow instructs them to turn the pages in the opposite direction, which is somewhat counterintuitive, but once they get the hang of it, the novelty will delight. As the child in the backseat continues to complain, the family car drives through the old West, onto a pirate plank, to a medieval joust, to a pyramid in ancient Egypt, through the dinosaur age, and into the future. Though initially alarmed, the family eventually enjoy the adventure and finally arrive at their destination. At this point, readers must turn the book around again in order to arrive at the party, where numerous elderly friends and relatives are eating cake, wearing party hats, and offering presents. One man squeezes the grandson's cheek as another pats him on the head, causing him to whine, "Can we go now?" While the design is clever, though potentially confusing, the illustrations, rendered in pencil, crayon, watercolor, ink, and Photoshop are filled with excitement and humorous detailsas the family travel back in time, their clothing alters to fit the scene, from prairie bonnets to caveman skins. Full-spreads, giant comic panels, and alarmed expressions add to the fun. VERDICT Most collections will want to purchase this original, amusing offering. Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools