Mr. Fox’s Game of “No!”
by David LaRochelle
illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka
Candlewick Press, September 10, 2024
Ages: Preschool to Grade 3
ISBN 978–1536240481
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Step right up for a battle of wits and test your brain with this nearly impossible Game of “NO!” Kids will love avoiding Mr. Fox’s clever traps in this funny, interactive story, but they won’t be able to resist answering “YES!” when asked if they want to read it again.
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Reviews
LaRochelle and Wohnoutka, the brilliantly witty writer and illustrator whose book See the Cat: Three Stories about a Dog won the Theodor Seuss Geisel Award, take kids on a vicarious adventure of sneaky questions designed to trip up and amuse listeners in equal measure. From the cover portrait of Mr. Fox sporting a carnival barker’s top hat, cane and easy smile, to his final bow, the illustrations capture his role as an able trickster and his ideas for beguiling his audience. After all, every question in the book prepares kids to answer the last one correctly. And here it is: “Have you ever read a funnier, better written, more beautifully illustrated book than this one?” A clever, hilarious picture book! (Booklist, starred review)
LaRochelle delightfully upends expectations in this tribute to the power of no. … Clever Mr. Fox proposes a “nearly impossible” game: saying no to every question he asks. Inadvertent yea-sayers must return to page one and reread. Innocuous questions such as, “Are you ready to play?” are traps. And when readers are presented with an enormous ice cream sundae, the question, “Would you like a taste?” truly becomes diabolical. … Accompanied by Wohnoutka’s chuckle-worthy cartoon images, the questions turn a bit more personal: “Are you stronger than a baby?” “Are you wearing any underwear?” In a laugh-out-loud marvel of excess and pacing, Mr. Fox challenges readers to put up with a tongue licking from slobbery, smelly Stinkpot the water buffalo. And the very last no-brainer question is a neatly engineered bit of puffery: “Have you ever read a funnier, better written, more beautifully illustrated book than this one?” But there’s no penalty for rereading this hilarious, irresistible book — perhaps readers will out-manipulate Mr. Fox after all! You can bet on this sideshow for an interactive good time. (Kirkus Reviews)