Review by Booklist Review
A red bird inquires of a little girl who is sitting amid a field dotted with boulders. Excuse me, what are you doing? I'm having a staring contest, the girl replies as she gazes out at the reader. One by one, various animals arrive in the scene and ask to play the game. May I join? asks a fox. Sure! answers the bird. The girl adds, Just don't blink! The staring contest the girl and animals versus the reader is on until there is a winner, and then it's over, right? Maybe. But maybe not! Plenty of repetition with cumulative visuals make Booth's picture-book debut plenty alluring. The text appears in a wide range of colors as additional animals appear on the scene, and with a more chaotic crow, the speech balloons produce visual cacophony against the tan, desert-like background. Little ones might especially appreciate the twist ending, which they'll catch on to long before the characters in the book. A playful anytime book, particularly for kids with short attention spans.--Lock, Anita Copyright 2017 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The staring contest: it's a refreshingly low-tech competition, and Booth (Who Wins?) captures the silly thrill of it all. His story opens with a bright-eyed girl sitting cross-legged in a minimally rendered outdoor setting. She looks straight at the reader, shouts "Go," and assumes a fixed (but always amiable) gaze. Animals trickle onto the scene, politely ask to join, and are welcomed to do so-"Just don't blink," the girl reminds the newcomers. Within a few pages, nearly a dozen creatures have joined this battle of wills, each assuming a goofy, glassy look. "Don't blink, don't blink, don't blink, don't blink," shouts the girl as weary eyes begin to narrow, but something's eventually got to give. A normally instantaneous reflex is stretched out over three very funny spreads, and the reader is declared the winner. (Equally funny is a tortoise's glacial progress across the page to see what's going on.) Ingenious, interactive, and just meta enough, it may even convince a few reluctant readers that staring at a book can be a lot of fun. Ages 3-6. Agent: Rick Richter, Zachary Shuster Harmsworth Literary. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-Booth engages readers with an increasingly difficult staring contest. A friendly, bob-haired girl initiates the challenge, and a series of animals ask to join in, including a red bird, a fox, a crocodile, a monkey, a giraffe, a gorilla, an elephant, a frog, a porcupine, an owl, and a cheetah. All are frequently reminded, "Just don't blink!" When everyone gives in at once, each wonders who won, leaving readers the sole witness to the answer-an enormous tortoise who very gradually has entered the tale on the right-hand page. Ink and gouache cartoons were developed digitally. Booth wisely keeps the background flat beige to enhance the animation of his animals. VERDICT A jolly fun interactive read-aloud, perfect for one-on-one and small group sharing.-Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
