Little.com

by Ralph Steadman

Overview

An internet-based fantasy from the wild mind of Ralph Steadman. “Some of Steadman’s most exuberant drawings ever, in a messy delight of a book.”—The Scotsman

Who would have guessed that the seemingly mild-mannered dot who holds our internet addresses together actually has a riotous secret life of its own? What is it, exactly, that it gets up to when we turn our computers off? Renowned illustrator Ralph Steadman is just the person to show us.

In this madcap adventure, little Dot, setting off to take tea with its good friend the Duchess, happens to run afoul of the mustachioed Duke of Bogshott and his White Army . . . at which point things get seriously weird, with a plot involving terrifically epic battles, wedding invitations, downhill rollerblading, and inky socks. In Steadman’s silly, anarchic paintings, little Dot runs wild—and invites kids along for the ride. An exuberant read-aloud picture book treat.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781567925203
Publisher:	David R. Godine, Publisher
Publication date:	05/19/2016
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.50(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	5 - 9 Years

About the Author

Ralph Steadman is an internationally renowned artist, illustrator of many outstanding books. He has won numerous prizes and awards, including the Victoria and Albert Museum’s Francis Williams Award and several Designers and Art Directors Association Awards for his contribution to illustration.

Editorial Reviews

Praise for Little.com

“Reminiscent of Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are.”—The Observer

“Some of Steadman’s most exuberant drawings ever, in a messy delight of a book.”—The Scotsman

“The parade of colored ink creatures suggests a joyful child let loose in a stationery store.”—The Times Educational Supplement

From the Publisher

11/01/2016
K-Gr 2—The dot that keeps urls firmly together has a secret life. When the computer is shut off, he sneaks off to visit a duchess and have ink for tea. But he has to dress up first. After having his ink, he comes across the Duke of Bogshoff and his Army of White. Full of ink, the dot rolls down a hill, resulting in a messy meeting. At first the dot and the duke clash dramatically, but after several encounters, it turns out that the duke just wants to visit the duchess. The dot introduces them, and soon a wedding is on the way, with the dot planning to be the Best Dot. Steadman's abstract illustrations of the dot create imagery as odd as the story. But the use of colors and curving lines also highlights the glee the dot feels in being free from his responsibilities. The wild and colorful ink-blotted visuals will undoubtedly win over young readers who enjoy the unusual. VERDICT A humorous choice for lively storytimes.—Heidi Grange, Summit Elementary School, Smithfield, UT

School Library Journal

2016-08-02
When your computer powers down, the little “dot” is off-duty. You don’t think it just sits there, do you?In this tipsy flight from Steadman, originally published overseas in 2000, the tidy dot on the first page is quickly transformed into mad splotches of black sporting googly eyes. It zooms through cyberspace to have tea—or, rather ink (“I LOVE INK!”)—with “my friend the Duchess of Amalfi,” and then goes off to spatter the besieging Duke of Bogshott and his white-uniformed army. Serving largely as an excuse for the illustrator to wield pen and brush ever more ferociously across a series of spreads, this free-associative plotline culminates with an invitation to attend the wedding of the duke and duchess as “Best Dot” (“I was so excited I made a mess on her carpet”) and a quick return home: “And here I am, ready to work for you again—dot dot dot.” As a clever riff on the internet, this doesn’t hold a pixel to Randi Zuckerberg and Joel Berger’s Dot. (2013) or Goodnight iPad by “Ann Droid” (2011), and the illustrator’s whacked-out mite isn’t going to take young readers on the sort of imagination-stretching artistic rides that Peter Reynolds’ The Dot (2003) or Hervé Tullet’s Press Here (2011) offer. But it does at least dispense exuberantly unrestrained permission to paint outside the lines. The artist’s fans might key in, but most young readers will be left in the dark. (Picture book. 7-9)

Kirkus Review

The parade of colored ink creatures suggests a joyful child let loose in a stationery store. If we need another dot.com millionaire,Ralph Steadman gets my vote.

Times Educational Supplement