The Most Boring Book Ever

Opening this tongue-in-cheek title, readers will sense that no self-respecting creator would willingly call a book “the most boring ever” without having something up their narrative sleeve. For Sanderson (the Skyward series) and Kibuishi (the Amulet series), that something is the interplay between a deadpan voice, shown in text banners, and action-packed, digitally colored pen-and-ink artwork. As the text kicks off, “A boy sat in a chair,” a pale-skinned, redheaded child in an oversize derby perches in a seat that looks like it’s been borrowed from the stage set of a Viking epic. But though “sitting in chairs is boring,” successive visuals prove otherwise, propelling the boy into the sky, where a dogfight explodes between steampunk-style flying vehicles. Other “boring” activities follow, including bird-watching, thinking about laundry, and contemplating math homework. While no birds are perceived, the youth does encounter a magnificent dragon—red-scaled, yellow-eyed, and toothy—while laundry and math come in handy as he careens among the brightly colored tile roofs of an elaborately drawn town. In this world, words and pictures collide rather than collaborate—and the result is one wild ride. Background characters are portrayed with various skin tones. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Eddie Schneider, JABberwocky Literary. Illustrator’s agent: Judy Hansen, Hansen Literary. (Sept.)