4 January 2017 NOPE! by Drew Sheneman, Viking, January 2017, 40p., ISBN: 978-1-101-99731-4

“There you stood, on the edge of your feather

Expecting to fly”

--Neil Young (1967)

“Speech balloons (also speech bubbles, dialogue balloons or word balloons) are a graphic convention used mostly in comic books, comics and cartoons to allow words (and much less often, pictures) to be understood as representing the speech or thoughts of a given character in the comic. There is often a formal distinction between the balloon that indicates thoughts and the one that indicates words spoken aloud: the balloon that conveys subjective thoughts is often referred to as a thought bubble.”

--Wikipedia, “Speech balloon”

NOPE! is a nearly-wordless picture book story concerning a young bird’s anxieties around learning to fly. Despite watching its mama effortlessly soar through the sky, the young bird looks down from its nest high up in a tree and imagines all sorts of dangers below. The fearful youngster repeatedly tells the encouraging parent “NOPE!” until the day finally comes when the mama tenderly and lovingly embraces her offspring and then unceremoniously (and literally) boots the young one out of the nest.

Of course, there is a positive ending, with the young’un confidently sailing past new friends--squirrels, turtles, and butterflies--before returning to the nest and mama. This story of leaving the nest will undoubtedly be embraced by many parents who, along with their young children, are nervously anticipating the beginning of preschool or kindergarten.

One of the interesting aspects of NOPE! is the use of large thought bubbles that show the fearful young bird imagining, first a cat, then a trio of wolves, and then a river filled with alligators waiting hungrily, far down, below the safety of the nest. For each of these, the author uses a two-page spread that has the same visual perspective as an earlier spread in which the young bird is looking down toward the ground between the tree it’s in and the neighboring tree.

Teachers and librarians who share this book can help kids recognize the difference between what the young bird actually sees and what it imagines is out there. Therefore, NOPE! provides an opportunity for a discussion about reality versus fear and imagination, as well as the chance to teach young children how one reads cartoons and comics, including the convention of speech and thought balloons.

From the cover onward, Drew Sheneman’s digitally-painted illustrations caught my eye. Given the expressiveness of the mama and child, which really carries the story, it’s not surprising to learn that this first-time children’s author/illustrator is a seasoned cartoonist. His first foray into children’s lit is notable and I hope we'll see more of him in the future.

Richie Partington, MLIS

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