The OK Book

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY APR 30, 2007

Go ahead and enjoy doing things even if you're just OK at them, this friendly concept book advises. Lichtenheld (What Are You So Grumpy About?) sets aside the color spreads of his previous titles for simple line drawings based on a visual pun. The book's hero is a little stick figure whose head is the "O" of "OK," and whose arms and legs are the "K." (Imagine the word "OK" tipped up on its side.) The scenery is similarly minimal: a black horizon line, a squiggly tree, some grass. "I like to try a lot of different things," the OK figure says. "I'm not great at all of them, but I enjoy them all the same." On each succeeding page, the stick figure turns in a series of OK performances, roasting a marshmallow, cutting a sandwich not really in half ("I'm an OK sharer"), and looking at the result of his fishing a tangle of seaweed and a boot. "One day, I'll grow up to be really excellent at something," OK says, while lying in bed. "I don't know what it is yet... but I sure am having fun figuring it out." In this age of skateboarding championships and spelling bee movies, it can't hurt to remind kids that the pleasure we take in simple activities is what makes life worthwhile. All ages.