Unstoppable: (Family Read-Aloud book, Silly Book About Cooperation)

by Adam Rex, Laura Park (Illustrator)

Overview

A read-aloud gem about teamwork and togetherness from New York Times bestselling author Adam Rex!

If you could have any superpower, what would it be? Well, what if the answer was: ALL OF THEM! When a bird narrowly escapes the clutches of a hungry cat, a nearby crab admires the bird's ability to fly, while the bird admits a longtime yearning for claws. And, just like that, they team up. Pretty soon, the team includes every animal in the forest who's ever wanted someone else's special trait. But how will these animals stop humans from destroying the forest for a megamall? It's going to take claws, wings, and Congress together to be truly Unstoppable! Laura Park's bright, comic illustrations pair with bestselling author Adam Rex's laugh-out-loud text in this hilarious and insightful picture book about celebrating the ways you're unique, and using all your resourcefulness—and just a smidge of politics—to save the day.

• Unstoppable! provides a timely lesson on the glories of diversity and the power of working together.
• Perfect read-aloud book for children interested in animals, the environment, and political action

For fans of Nothing Rhymes with Orange,Here We Are: Notes for Living on Planet Earth, The Wolf the Duck and The Mouse, and Penguin Problems.

• Books for kids ages 3–5
• Read-aloud picture books
• Picture books about Congress and government

Adam Rex is an author, illustrator, and author-illustrator known for his books including The Dirty Cowboy, School's First Day of School, and The True Meaning of Smekday, which was adapted into the DreamWorks film Home in 2014. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Laura Park is a cartoonist, illustrator, and enthusiastic baker from Chicago currently living in France.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452165042
Publisher:	Chronicle Books LLC
Publication date:	05/05/2020
Pages:	56
Sales rank:	1,076,838
Product dimensions:	9.20(w) x 11.20(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	530L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Adam Rex is an author, illustrator, and author-illustrator known for his books including The Dirty Cowboy, School's First Day of School, and The True Meaning of Smekday, which was adapted into the DreamWorks film Home in 2014. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Laura Park is a cartoonist, illustrator, and enthusiastic baker from Chicago currently living in France.

Editorial Reviews

★ 03/23/2020

A put-upon crab and a crow—drawn by Park (Abner & Ian Get Right-Side Up) with an adorably goofy graphic aesthetic—realize that by combining the crow’s wings and the crab’s pincers, they can become the airborne scourge of their common enemy, a cat. “Crabbird!” shouts the crow, “Birdrab!” echoes the crab, “UNSTOPPABLE!” they cheer together after delivering a nose-pinch that sends the cat scurrying. But why stop there? In rapid succession, they join forces with a turtle, a bear named Steve, and (a little less willingly) the U.S. president and all of Congress, creating a highly improbable amalgam—“Congresibirdraburtlebear”—that proves “UNSTOPPABLE!” when it comes to righting wrongs—or, as Rex (The Next President) puts it, “passing laws and pinching the noses that need to be pinched.” It’s not only funny (Rex has a way with offhand remarks: “Well, I’ve always been a little envious of ducks,” the crab tells the bird) and beautiful to look at, with a clean, bold design and exuberant typography—it also hints at collaboration’s role in effecting change. If “UNSTOPPABLE” suddenly starts ringing through playgrounds across the nation, this fetching fractured fable is probably the reason why. Ages 5–8. Agent for author and illustrator: Steven Malk, Writers House. (May)

Publishers Weekly

"[T]his unabashedly silly picture book is a good choice for emerging readers as well as for storytime audiences. It should appeal as much to those who find the word crabturd funny as to those who prefer Congress jokes."-Horn Book Magazine

"The illustrations, done in a collagelike style that combines simple shapes, deftly play with visual sequencing and wonderfully expressive characters to cleverly set up the story. . . . The power of cooperation reaches its zenith in a satisfying, high-spirited conclusion. . . . The power of teamwork becomes the people's power, all wrapped in a cheerful romp."—Kirkus Reviews

"In Unstoppable, Adam Rex's message goes down nice and easy as he keeps the banter fast and furious and the laughs front and center. . . . This extravagantly absurd picture book centers on some lakefront animals who unite (in more than one sense) to stop ecological disaster. A special illustrator's prize should be awarded to Laura Park. . . a good match for Rex. . . who proves with Unstoppable that his gift for crafting sense-making absurdity is undiminished. Let's hear it for Lauradrexpark!"-Shelf Awareness

"[A]n adorably goofy graphic aesthetic. . . . [N]ot only funny . . . and beautiful to look at, with a clean, bold design and exuberant typography-it also hints at collaboration's role in effecting change. [A] fetching fractured fable." -Publisher's Weekly, Starred Review

"[E]ngaging and humorous. Introducing the picture book crowd to a bit of knowledge about who is in charge of passing laws, [Unstoppable] will also delight adults in its depiction of our government."-School Library Journal

From the Publisher

03/01/2020

K-Gr 3—After a crab and a bird are threatened by a cat, they join forces, since one has always longed to fly and the other wants claws that snap. They describe themselves as Crabbird/Birdrab and are content until they both divulge their desire to swim as well as soar and pinch. Enlisting the aid of a turtle, the three become Craburtlebird—among other monikers—and feel they are "unstoppable," until they confront a bully. Even with their combined talents, they are intimidated by the angry bear until the three convince him to collaborate with them and they become Crabburbearbird! Though they now possess myriad strengths and abilities, they are no match for the humans who are razing the forest in the name of progress, so, of course, they enlist the help of the president and Congress. Vibrant illustrations were created using Procreate on an iPad and are engaging and humorous. VERDICT Introducing the picture book crowd to a bit of knowledge about who is in charge of passing laws, this will also delight adults in its depiction of our government.—Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI

School Library Journal

2020-01-12
Collaboration is the key to success in this picture book.

The story enticingly begins with five double-page spreads, wordless except for onomatopoeia, as a cat leaps at a big-eyed crab sitting on a rock and the crab pinches back. The cat flees and leaps after a small bird next, who flies away with a startled "AAAH!" The illustrations, done in a collagelike style that combines simple shapes, deftly play with visual sequencing and wonderfully expressive characters to cleverly set up the story. After the bird lands near the crab, the text begins, with the crab waxing poetic: "Oh! If only I might escape this life of muddy scuttling and fly." To which the bird replies, in a surfer-dude tone (the distinct voices of each character are a joy), that it wishes for "big, snapping claws" in order to "pinch that cat on the nose." The two have an epiphany: combine forces and become "crabbird!" The illustration shows the bird clutching the crab as they fly through the air. The combinations don't stop, and "crabbird!" becomes "craburtlebird!" and "birdraburtlebear!" as they pick up a turtle and a bear to become even more "UNSTOPPABLE!" Or so they think—until they spy bulldozers clearing their forest home for a shopping mall. Fear not! The power of cooperation reaches its zenith in a satisfying, high-spirited conclusion (that includes illustrated human diversity, most notably in the form of a president who's a woman of color and a vigorously multiracial Congress).

The power of teamwork becomes the people's power, all wrapped in a cheerful romp. (Picture book. 3-8)

Kirkus Reviews