Review by Booklist Review
The resident of apartment 2C agrees to wake his neighbor, 2B, in 20 coconuts--only, 2C has no idea what that means. Coconut time?! The rest of the bustling building seems to understand, but 2C hails "from a long line of KNOW-IT-ALLS, and 'I DON'T KNOW' is something [they] just DON'T say." After some humorous self-doubt that involves a sock, a chicken, and a consultation with his cell phone, 2C accidentally wakes his neighbor on time before conceding he does not understand. 2C is reassured by 2B that asking for clarity "doesn't mean that you're not SMART," while a note elaborates in praise of curious questioning. The cartoonish residents of the apartment building are expressive and vibrantly hued, and, typical of Keller's work, silliness abounds in illustrative details. Keller has an automatic audience, but those interested in exploring deeper issues of truth-seeking and the merits of asking for clarity will find as many inroads as readers who simply appreciate her joyful chaos. An instructive and delightfully absurd story from a beloved and reliable picture-book creator.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
In her quirky, inventive style, Keller (Potato Pants!) delivers another illuminating tale via a carefully orchestrated jumble of colors, images, and talk bubbles. When the personage in apartment 2B, a pink, beet-shaped character, asks the neighbor in 2C, a blue rectangular vertical, to wake her up in "20 coconuts," 2C quickly responds "Abso-COCONUT-ly, 2B!" But building know-it-all 2C has no idea what 2B's request means, and doesn't want to admit being clueless. 2C's anxiety spirals from there, as he seeks the answer without showing his ignorance--plucking the chicken and lost sock that are clogging his ear, and heading to Wally's Wash Works for a brain cleaning. Just when the meltdown reaches a crescendo, visually depicted in a large font as neighbors watch in alarm, 2B awakes right on (coconut) time. When 2C works up the courage to confess his unfamiliarity, he's rewarded with kind support--a denouement that should prove reassuring to readers with similar apprehensions. Quirky asides abound from end to end of this visually jam-packed picture book, and a full-page close-up of 2C's perplexed face is not soon forgotten. An endnote from "Some Brains" offers advice for addressing know-it-all-itis. Ages 4--8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Sept.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
"I can't ask her what it means. Then she'll know I don't know." The resident of apartment 2C (skinny bright-blue walking rectangle with a red bow tie and a thatch of brown hair) prides himself on being "the know-it-all neighbor." When 2B (pink teardrop with red high-tops at the end of stick legs) asks 2C to "wake me up in 20 coconuts," though, 2C is thrown for a loop. Keller's wacky mixed-media illustrations set the tone and the scene: a red-brick apartment building inhabited by a variety of cartoony characters who mainly communicate by shouting out their front windows. 2C tries logic ("How many coconuts in a minute?"), removing the sock and noisy chicken from his ear, and getting his brain washed, all with the hope that the meaning of "coconut time" will become clearer. The existential crisis reaches its ridiculously exaggerated crescendo when 2C finally admits (to the whole building) that he doesn't know what 2B is talking about. And this is where the silliness has been leading: "It's all right to say 'I don't know,' 2C. It doesn't mean that you're not smart." An encouraging note provides more details on the benefits of owning what we don't know. Kitty Flynn November/December 2022 p.66(c) Copyright 2022. 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
A romp about saying "I don't know." An apartment building full of cartoonlike creatures shown interacting through their windows (a clever illustrative decision) evokes the lively life of urban living. When one neighbor asks another (via the window) to wake them up in "20 coconuts," the neighbor agrees but then admits to himself that he doesn't know what that means--something that bothers him because he is known for being a know-it-all; in fact, he comes from a family of know-it-alls. Ah, pressure! The know-it-all gets himself into a tizzy, cleans his ears and finds a sock and a chicken, consults "Phoney" (his cellphone), and even gets his brain washed by Wally's Wash Works. If this all sounds extremely silly and somewhat chaotic, it is--which means kids will probably love it. Eventually, he wakes up his neighbor with his yelling (right on time, apparently) but admits to her he doesn't know what 20 coconuts means. She offers to explain, but then he says he has to be somewhere in "11 bananas," throwing her into confusion. The energetic (some may say frenzied) tone is amplified by illustrations that have lots going on, with various characters talking in dialogue bubbles to each other, but the message itself comes across as a little light until an explanatory note from the "brains" spells it out--it's OK to say you don't know. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A worthy message wrapped up in a playful romp. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
