A love of drawing and an understanding librarian help a struggling student find his voice in this quirky and creative ode to artistic expression, featuring a book within a book, from the brilliant minds that brought you The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore and The Numberlys.
Billy loves to draw. He draws on books and on his homework and even on his math testsâhe might not get the answer right, but doesnât it look swell sitting in a boat at sea? His teacher doesnât think so, and neither does the principal. But the librarian has an idea to help Billy apply his illustrations to his learning: a book-making contest!
So Billy gets to work, reading everything he can about meteors, mythology, space travel, andâŠmucus? Yep, Billyâs book is about the worldâs smartest booger, who stays tucked away until right when heâs neededâsay, to solve multiplication problems, or answer questions from the President. Billyâs sure his story is a winner. But being a winner doesnât mean you always win.
Full of nostalgic references to a time when TV was black-and-white and Sunday newspapers had things called the funnies, this wildly fun story-within-a-story is based loosely on the childhood of childrenâs book legend William Joyce, and includes a sewn-in mini-book that tells the tale of the worldâs smartest booger.