Review by Booklist Review
An eraser stands confidently against a blank white page, asserting it's just the way I like it. However, a pencil believes otherwise, popping in and drawing squiggles here and smudges there, until annoyed Eraser chases Pencil away ( No pencil can mess with me ). But playful Pencil's sticking around and, after some humorous sketches, the writing utensil gradually fills the whole page with graphite. Poor Eraser's dismayed ( I'll never be able to fix all of this! ), but the pink polyhedron's movements create shapes in Pencil's mess, like a sun, planets, and a spaceship to escape the slate-gray page. However, back on unblemished paper, could Eraser be bored? Thankfully, Pencil returns, and, working together, they happily make something special. Eraser's commentary and exhortations make up the bulk of the spare, lively text, while Amato's illustrations a combination of hand-drawn elements and photos of the eraser and pencil artfully tell the story with wry, wordless panels and droll touches of humor, all nicely conveyed with only a few lines. This entertaining debut celebrates collaboration, creativity, and how even complete opposites can eventually be friends.--Shelle Rosenfeld Copyright 2018 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 2-In an "if you can't beat `em, join'em" tale, an uptight neatnik learns to loosen up a bit. A rectangular pink eraser works hard at keeping the pages of this book free of any marks. Along comes a rogue pencil with an attitude that finds enjoyment in taunting the eraser with swirls and smudges, dirtying up the crisp, clean pages. The two characters, with stick arms and legs and expressive facial features, begin a battle of wills. Their conflict escalates as the pencil fills more of each page with dark gray and the exhausted eraser has trouble cleaning up after him. In a "lightbulb" moment, the eraser figures out that it is possible to make pictures by strategically omitting sections of a graphite-filled page, thereby creating his own designs. When the eraser finds himself once again on a pristine page, he discovers it's boring, so he sets about remedying the situation. The yellow pencil and pink eraser-whose reasons for existing would seem to be at cross-purposes-are the only colorful elements in this clever, humorous, and otherwise white and gray picture book. VERDICT A fun read-aloud before art class or in a maker workshop.-Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI © Copyright 2019. 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.
Review by Horn Book Review
A narrating pink eraser is no fan of messes. When a yellow pencil creates visual havoc--its charcoal-gray lines and shadings are the book's only other color--the eraser hides in a pencil-sketched forest. The eraser feels trapped ("I'll never be able to fix all of this!") until it realizes a creative workaround. The book's lessons (accept imperfection, work collaboratively) are unsubtle but worthwhile. (c) Copyright 2019. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Amato's debut features two writing tools with opposing dispositions: a yellow pencil and a pink, stand-alone eraser.One likes to make marks; the other delights in eradication. Can this end well? Clean, white backgrounds set the stage for opening strokes and smudges easily removed. The eraser exhibits confidence, but the writing implement picks up speed, creatingin rapid successionan impudent caricature of its nemesis, a cyclone, an army of menacing pencils, and a forest that becomes so thick it's essentially solid black. Stumped, the eraser eventually swipes at the darkness. Although the attempts leave residual texture, the effect is pleasing. A sun created by erasing leads to a galaxy, and the neatnik eraser directs a newly hewn rocket onto a fresh page, exclaiming, "Eat my dust!" Soon, however, the devilish drawer is at it again. The eraser's responserubbed-away letters forming the book's titlereveals that this strategy brings peace with the duo's differences (and that their interactions are actually enjoyed). Employing a controlled palette for the digitally manipulated photographs and hand drawings, Amato maintains interest by animating a few deft lines into ever changing facial expressions and by varying the page designs from panels to full spreads. Surprisingly, the pencil doesn't have any lines to speak; the eraser does all the talking, albeit in brief comments.Children will be amused by the relationship and intrigued with the technique, comprehending that one can draw with a pencil and an eraserand that opposites can co-exist. (Picture book. 3-9) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
