Naked!

by Michael Ian Black, Debbie Ridpath Ohi (Illustrator)

Overview

A hilarious new book about a boy who refuses to wear clothes, from comedian Michael Ian Black and illustrator Debbi Ridpath Ohi, the team that brought you I’m Bored, a New York Times Notable Children’s Book.

Michael Ian Black and Debbie Ridpath Ohi, whose “smart cartoony artwork matches Black’s perfect comic timing” (The New York Times Book Review), have paired up again to showcase the antics of an adorable little boy who just doesn’t want to get dressed.

After his bath, the little boy begins his hilarious dash around the house…in the buff! Being naked is great. Running around, sliding down the stairs, eating cookies. Nothing could be better. Unless he had a cape…

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442467385
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	04/29/2014
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	1,155,470
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 8.70(h) x 0.60(d)
Lexile:	AD330L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Michael Ian Black is a writer, comedian, and actor who has appeared on Another Period, The Jim Gaffigan Show, and Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp. He created and starred in many television series, has written screenplays, and regularly tours the country as a stand-up comedian. Michael is the bestselling author of the book My Custom Van, the memoir You’re Not Doing It Right, and the children’s books Chicken Cheeks, The Purple Kangaroo, A Pig Parade Is a Terrible Idea, I’m Bored, Naked!, Cock-a-Doodle-Doo-Bop!, and I’m Sorry. Michael lives in Connecticut with his wife and two children.

Debbie Ridpath Ohi is the author-illustrator of Where Are My Books? and I Want to Read All the Books. Her illustrations also appear in Sea Monkey and Bob, written by Aaron Reynolds; I’m Bored (a New York Times Notable Book), Naked!, and I’m Sorry, written by Michael Ian Black; as well as ten Judy Blume chapter books and middle grade titles. For more info, visit DebbieOhi.com or @InkyElbows on Twitter.

Editorial Reviews

Black…brings great comic timing to this riff. Ohi, who worked with Black on I'm Bored, makes sure readers get the joke.

The New York Times Book Review - Sarah Harrison Smith

★ 03/03/2014
“Naked!” It’s fun to say and fun to be, as the team behind 2012’s I’m Bored proves with this tribute to the (temporarily) clothes-free life. “I’m naked!” shouts Black’s impish narrator fresh from the bath his private parts artfully concealed by page edges, his bare feet, and a sheet of paper (“I could go to school naked”). Add a cape and cookies, and life can’t get much better—well, until the shivers set in, and then dragon PJs become the sensible choice (“The cape stays on,” the boy proclaims, admiring himself in the mirror. “Awesome”). Ohi, working in more fully (ahem) fleshed out scenes than in I’m Bored, is an inventive, irreverent portraitist of domestic life—readers won’t be able to anticipate where her comic sense of composition will take them next (spoiler: one perspective is a bird’s-eye view of a naked Hokey Pokey, complete with dance steps diagram). Certain to inspire gleeful mimicry—not that some kids need much of an excuse to ditch their duds. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Barry Goldblatt, Barry Goldblatt Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"Black, a comedian as well as a writer, brings great comic timing to this riff. Ohi, who worked with Black on 'I’m Bored', makes sure readers get the joke."

New York Times Book Review

2014-02-26
One boy's birthday suit gets a bit of a workout in this heartfelt paean to going au naturel. Having tackled ennui in I'm Bored (2012), Black and Ohi reunite in this tale of one boy's determination to encounter the world totally barrier-free. Finding himself without clothing in the bath, the pink-skinned lad waxes eloquent on the freedom of the flesh. He zips around the house, smugly crowing and then dreaming of what it would be like to be naked 24/7. He may deign to wear some clothing, so long as it's a cape, but that's as clothed as he'll go. That is, until it becomes clear that, if nothing else, clothes are useful in preventing you from freezing your tuchis off. Black's tale is interesting not so much for its content, which has been done before, as for the sheer joy the young nudist exhibits. In fact, it may go so far as to persuade more straight-laced children to try the lifestyle out for themselves. As for the art, squeamish parents needn't fear. Ohi appears so reticent to show true nudity that her boy doesn't exhibit so much as a butt crack. (But that won't stop little listeners from giggling.) Doesn't cover particularly new nude territory, but children equally enthralled with going out in their altogethers will appreciate the enthusiasm here. (Picture book. 2-6)

Kirkus Reviews