Let's Do Nothing! Book

Don’t move! A master of animation explores the elusive art of doing nothing in this comical tale of two very active imaginations.

Frankie and Sal have already played every sport and board game invented, baked and eaten batches of cookies, and painted a zillion pictures. What’s left to do? Nothing! Ten seconds of nothing! Can they do it? Can they act like stone statues in the park? Can they simply hold their breath and not blink an eye? With a wink to the reader and a command of visual humor, feature film animator Tony Fucile demonstrates the Zen-like art of doing nothing...oops! Couldn’t do it!

Children's Literature

On the first page we meet Sal and Frankie, lying down and wondering what to do next. On the next double-page, they review the things they have already done, from ball and game playing to baking and reading. The title is their decision: "Let's do nothing!" Figuring out how to do nothing fills the following pages with loads of laughs. They try sitting still like stone statues in the park. An imaginary plague of pigeons ends that. When they pretend to be redwoods, Sal's dog lifts his leg on Frankie. Making like the Empire State Building attracts King Kong to Frankie's glasses. They finally conclude, "There is no way to do nothing," and off they go to do "something." The boys are a couple of lively cartoon characters behaving like typical kids. Ink drawings with colored pencil and smoothly applied acrylic paints keep the comedy flowing, supported by the use of large type that occasionally explodes, dragging us with them. Readers could have a good time trying do their own versions of "nothing." Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz