The Pencil

by Allan Ahlberg, Bruce Ingman (Illustrator)

Overview

"Clever and suspenseful, a surefire delight." — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Once a pencil draws a little boy, there’s no telling what will come next — a dog, a cat, a chase (of course), and a paintbrush to color in an ever-expanding group of family and friends. But it’s not long before the complaints begin — "This hat looks silly!" "My ears are too big!" — until the poor pencil has no choice but to draw . . . an eraser. Oh, no! In the hands of Allan Ahlberg and Bruce Ingman, creators of The Runaway Dinner and Previously, can anything but havoc and hilarity ensue?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780763660888
Publisher:	Candlewick Press
Publication date:	10/09/2012
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	529,596
Product dimensions:	9.50(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.20(d)
Lexile:	AD470L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Allan Ahlberg is the acclaimed author of numerous picture books, including PREVIOUSLYand THE RUNAWAY DINNER. His other books include THE SHOPPING EXPEDITION and THE BABY IN THE HAT, both illustrated by André Amstutz, and the popular Jolly Postman series. He lives in Bath, England.

Bruce Ingman is the award-winning illustrator of PREVIOUSLY and THE RUNAWAY DINNER, as well as BOING! by Sean Taylor. He lives in London.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

Clever and suspenseful...surefire delight.
—Publishers Weekly

Editorial Reviews

Clever and suspenseful...surefire delight.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

There are deep resonances here of world creation myths and the power of artistic expression… free-wheeling faux-childlike illustrations … a thought-provoking model of conflict resolution. But really, this wry, madcap, loving story is for everyone who thinks that of course a boiled egg should be called Billy or who wants to hear the tale repeatedly so as to shout "OUT!" louder each time.
—The Horn Book (starred review)

Inspire some creative world-building in budding artists.
—Kirkus Reviews

Ahlberg’s matter-of-fact, curiously specific storytelling has a weirdly appealing blend of absurdity and homey charm.
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

The Pencil is wildly inventive, deliciously high-concept and simmering with dramatic tension. (Who could have imagined sweat beads flying off a nervous pencil would be so believable?)
—San Francisco Chronicle online

Both clever and suspenseful, this surefire delight tells the story of a pencil who must deal with the consequences of his inventions…The book’s comical unexpected plot and wry narrator keep the story fresh throughout.
—San Francisco Examiner

A definite winner from the team that created The Runaway Dinner. The combination of humorous text, quirky drawn out writing style, and clever illustrations all point to another runaway hit!
—For Immediate Release Reviews…Kids

Ahlberg's playful, abundant imagination is made visible in Ingman's wryly personified illustrations.
—The Star.com

ALL of the characters in this book get names — even the ants. And it’s a GEM of a read-aloud!
—Shelftalker (PW blog)

From the Publisher

Both clever and suspenseful, this surefire delight tells the story of a pencil who must deal with the consequences of his inventions. The pencil begins by drawing a boy (Banjo from Ahlberg and Ingman's The Runaway Dinner), a dog and a cat-and their world soon expands dramatically (and colorfully, thanks to Kitty, a paintbrush the pencil creates). Complaints start to surface (" 'I shouldn't be smokinga pipe,' said a grandpa"), but the pencil's solution-an eraser-runs rampant and tries to rub out everything, including the pencil. Ingman exuberantly conveys the joy of both construction and destruction-in one scene, animals and people flee on foot, bicycle and skateboard as the eraser wipes away the spare, yellow background. The book's comical, unexpected plot and wry narrator keep the story fresh throughout-a running joke involves each of the pencil's creations insisting on a name; those the pencil provides are largely nonsensical (the endpapers are filled with additional items-a bike named Augusta, a cuckoo clock named William). Tranquility reigns by book's end, but young readers are sure to be absorbed in finding out what happens next as the pencil draws his way out of one predicament after another. Ages 4-8. (Aug.)

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Publishers Weekly

K-Gr 2

"Once there was a pencil, a lonely little pencil, and nothing else." One day the pencil begins to draw. Before long it has created a world populated with rather cranky individuals, pets, and talking objects that make demands for names, food, companions, etc., and then begin to complain about everything they have received. The pencil tries to be accommodating and creates a paintbrush that adds color, to no avail. It draws an eraser to remove the offending items, which runs amok and erases everything. The pencil then comes up with a clever solution to prevent itself from being eliminated by the out-of-control eraser, and this time creates a more orderly world. This quirky story will appeal to children who have a slightly offbeat sense of humor, and it could easily be paired with Henrik Drescher's equally quirky Simon's Book (McAdam/Cage, 2006). Ingman's acrylic cartoon illustrations use a rich color palette and supply numerous details that complement the story. Not an essential purchase, but fun.-Grace Oliff, Ann Blanche Smith School, Hillsdale, NJ

School Library Journal

In this distant cousin to Harold and the Purple Crayon, a pencil draws a smiling boy (previously met in Ahlberg and Ingman's Runaway Dinner, 2006) and names him "Banjo." At Banjo's behest the pencil adds and names a family, pets, an entire world and a paintbrush to color it all in. When some of the figures start complaining about their details, the pencil obligingly creates a rubber eraser-which turns out to be a mistake, as the eraser proceeds to "rub out" everything and everyone. Sensitive readers may find this part slightly disturbing, but it does create plenty of suspense. Just when entropy looks assured of a win, the fleeing pencil turns on a last, blank page and draws a second eraser-and then, after the two rub each other out, proceeds to remake all that had been lost. Cosmic overtones, anyone? Like its classic antecedent, this may not only inspire some creative world-building in budding artists, it also gives the relationship between story and audience an additional interactive aspect. (Picture book. 6-9)

Kirkus Reviews