Dot in Larryland: The Big Little Book of an Odd-Sized Friendship

Somewhere in these oversize pages there is a story of friendship between two nice but lonely people: an infinitesimal woman (“Note: picture of Dot has been magnified a flajillion times”) and a ginormous man (“His toes are so far from his head that if Larry steps in a puddle, he doesn’t know it till tomorrow”). But the story is not the point with New Yorker wits Marx (Now I Will Never Leave the Dinner Table ) and Chast (The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z! ), who pack the book with so many asides, meta-jokes, knowing nudges and weak couplets (“And one last thing. I don’t mean to be rude/ My name is Dot. You’re a nice-looking dude”) that the plot and characters become incidental: cartoon narrators barge in midway, “We interrupt this story to bring you the intermission.... Hey, how’d you like to take a look in another part of the book?” It’s as if the author and the illustrator started from the supposition that children are hardened storytelling cynics, and delivered accordingly. Redirect this one to Marx and Chast’s adult fans. Ages 4–8. (Jan.)