It's a Book by Lane Smith- Book Set #1

Smith, L. (2010). It's a book. New York, NY.  Roaring Brook Press.

A simple story of a monkey who tries to explain what he is holding to well, a jackass.  His repetitive response to the endless questions about what sort of technology he might have is "no, it's a book." When the jackass finally sits down long enough to read it, we find he is indeed captivated and involved in what is no doubt a good book.  Since he will not give the book back, the monkey finally has to go back to the library to get another one. This very witty picture book makes fun of the newest generation of students who are often exposed  more to technology in many different forms and formats than they are to an actual book.  A book use to be such a common thing, that it is now humorous (and quite disturbing actually) to find that it's not at all common and technology in the form of laptops, iPads/tablets, and cell phones are what we see in most everyone's hand today instead.  It is sad to think that anyone would not know of what a book actually is, but most everyone knows how technology has taken over our lives and world in many ways (weather we like it or not) and that sitting down to read a good book is often a foreign concept. Although this colorful book is fine enough for children, older students and adults will appreciate the subtle humor and even the play on the word "jackass" as a character in the story. Younger students probably would not think much of the story or get the humor for they have not experienced the world as someone older who has known how the world has changed with technology.

To find more information on Lane Smith and his award winning books and illustrations go to www.lanesmithbooks.com