Are We There Yet? by Dan Santat - ADVISABLE

Santat, Dan   Are We There Yet?  Unpaged. Little, Brown and Co., 2016. $17.99. PICTURE BOOK

A boy quickly becomes bored on his car trip to grandma's house, and his imagination takes over. Time slows down so much, that it starts moving backward. The boys travels by a steam locomotive, a pirate's ship, a javelin contest, ancient Egypt, and eventually to the time of dinosaurs. When he finally starts enjoying himself, moments finally begin to fly by. But if you forget to enjoy each moment, you might find you've missed several years of them. There's no greater gift than the present, especially when you get to enjoy it with family and friends.

A Caldecott medalist, Santat's illustrations do not disappoint. They are whimsical and intriguing, even turning the convention of page-turning on its head. Readers are led to flip the book upside-down and start turning pages seemingly backwards, until the illustrations flip you again. However, the story is a bit abstract, and probably mostly inaccessible to most kids. Not that that will stop them from picking up and enjoying this book. The dinosaur on the cover will draw them in, and the pictures will keep them hooked. 

EL - ADVISABLE. Reviewed by P.K.Foster, teacher- librarian