Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

If possessions don't bring joy, what good are they?With unfeigned, unreserved delight, a child imagines all the things they might do with a chance-found rubber band. "This is my rubber band!" they proclaim. Not only can the child keep it for themselves, but they can wear it, bundle up future love letters or "all the bad people in the world," drive off invading aliens, fly away to visit distant lands, and much else besides. This leads to ruminations about how everyone has or is forever searching for things to keep and value-big thoughts that suddenly come to an end when the rubber band breaks. Again humorously plumbing philosophical depths just hinted at by a brief text and minimally detailed art, the author of The Boring Book (2019) and There Must Be More Than That! (2020) takes readers on a journey that illuminates both a child's fertile imagination and our own understanding of what does, or should, matter in life. This small, cute child-their delicately drawn face, like those of their family and others in the pictures, left uncolored-shows a healthy sense of priorities, too, as after a quiet moment of surprise, they leave the broken rubber band behind to search out a new spark for their dreams and adventures: "Mommy! Mommy! Can I have this paper clip?" (This book was reviewed digitally.)A message to savor, delivered with a light touch and contagious glee. (Picture book. 5-7)

ALA Booklist (Thu Apr 28 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

When a little girl's mother lets her keep a rubber band of her very own, it's the most exciting news ever. Not only will she sleep and bathe with it and never have to share it, she'll use it as a fashion accessory and to wrangle bad guys. And maybe she can harness its power to slingshot herself around the world, bungee jump, and jump rope with monkeys in the jungle. And she might even , it broke. This book, translated from the original Japanese, captures the glorious imaginative play that ignites in the type of child who collects odds and ends and sees them as amazing. Yoshitake's artwork is, as usual, minimalist and childishly simplistic, using scraggly lines and a handful of colors to portray images and facial expressions. The plot, spare though it is, includes sweet messaging about how treasure is personal, no matter one's age, and how people should respect one another's collectibles. While the girl's rubber-band plans are cut short, the future brightens once more when she discovers a magnificent paper clip.

Horn Book (Mon Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

In this endearing picture book, a little girl is thrilled when her mother lets her keep a discarded rubber band. "Yay! I have a rubber band. This is my rubber band!" She imagines all the things she can do with it, both mundane (putting her hair in a pigtail; tying up future love letters) and much more imaginative (corralling all the bad guys in the world; using it as a catapult to "go anywhere I want in one jump"). Along the way, she also offers musings on what people treasure and why. Yoshitake's (The Boring Book, rev. 11/19) expressive, humorous illustrations capture the full range of the girl's emotions -- from her joy in acquiring the rubber band, to her fierceness when knocking out an invading alien with it, to her disdain at being offered gold and jewels in exchange for it, to her distress when it inevitably breaks. But this irrepressible spirit isn't down for long, and Yoshitake offers not just one optimistic twist, but two (see back cover). Simple, childlike, funny, and even a bit profound. Martha V. Parravano

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

If possessions don't bring joy, what good are they?With unfeigned, unreserved delight, a child imagines all the things they might do with a chance-found rubber band. "This is my rubber band!" they proclaim. Not only can the child keep it for themselves, but they can wear it, bundle up future love letters or "all the bad people in the world," drive off invading aliens, fly away to visit distant lands, and much else besides. This leads to ruminations about how everyone has or is forever searching for things to keep and value-big thoughts that suddenly come to an end when the rubber band breaks. Again humorously plumbing philosophical depths just hinted at by a brief text and minimally detailed art, the author of The Boring Book (2019) and There Must Be More Than That! (2020) takes readers on a journey that illuminates both a child's fertile imagination and our own understanding of what does, or should, matter in life. This small, cute child-their delicately drawn face, like those of their family and others in the pictures, left uncolored-shows a healthy sense of priorities, too, as after a quiet moment of surprise, they leave the broken rubber band behind to search out a new spark for their dreams and adventures: "Mommy! Mommy! Can I have this paper clip?" (This book was reviewed digitally.)A message to savor, delivered with a light touch and contagious glee. (Picture book. 5-7)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

All that glitters is not gold in a comedic picture book about childhood agency and small delights. Finding a humble rubber band next to a wastebasket, the eager child narrator asks their mother for it. Wish granted, the child’s eyes grow wide with the thrill of solo ownership: “I have a rubber band! This is my rubber band!” Subsequent spreads envisage the possible adventures of child and elastic, in the present day (baths, co-sleeping), in the future (gathering hair and love letters), and in more speculative scenarios (capturing baddies, saving the world). These plans lead to musings about others’ attachments, then reasoning about how “everyone always seems to be looking for something.” Throughout, dot-eyed characters, portrayed with paper-white skin and brown-toned hair, interact with various objects, and one spread offers a visual accounting of pocket-size treasures: key chains and toys, a tuning fork and an acorn. Beauty may be in the eye of the beholder in this gently philosophical love letter to the quotidian, but Yoshitake (I Can Be Anything) cleverly elevates the simple joy of having “something that’s just mine.” Final art not seen by PW. Ages 3–5. (May)

School Library Journal (Wed Jun 01 00:00:00 CDT 2022)

PreS-Gr 1 A small child of no obvious gender finds a rubber band and claims it a treasure. With their rubber band they imagine all sorts of adventures they will have and all of the uses for the band, from normal hair tie to saving the world. The text is very spare, standing out clearly from the illustrations, with basic and repetitive vocabulary employed. Complementing the text and in service to the story are Yoshitake's illustrations, which show off the adorable and zany antics of the child in bright colors and accessible images. These convey the inner world of the child as well as some particularly hilarious facial expressions. Overall, Yoshitake has created a story that takes readers into that dynamic chaos of a child's mind, and all with a simple rubber band. VERDICT A winsome read-aloud that shows the expanse of a child's imagination, this is not an essential purchase but it is certainly an endearing one. Margaret Kennelly