What is inside THIS box?, written by Drew Daywalt, reviewed by Klaudia Janek

Student Reviewer: Jessica C.
Summary: This story is about two best friends, a monkey and a cake, who ponder over the contents of a mysterious box. The monkey tells the cake that there is a cat inside the box that disappears when the box is open. The cake does not believe the monkey, saying that it would be impossible for a cat to just disappear. However, the monkey reveals that anything the cake can imagine is inside the box. The cake is happy about this and comes up with their own ideas of what is inside the box, saying that there’s a dinosaur in the box. The two are content with their own imaginations, even though they disagree. Their contentment with what they both think is in the box reveals the theme of the book. The theme stressed by the book is that it is important for everyone to make their own ideas and use their imagination, without criticizing others. Another message of the book is that everyone should question their own beliefs in order to develop them. At one point the cake asks the monkey how he knows there’s a cat in the box when he hasn’t seen it, and the monkey asks the cake, ‘How do you know there is NOT a cat…’. The cake then reconsiders his views and ultimately draws his own developed conclusion.

Straight Talk for Librarians: This book is an accessible way for emerging readers to begin understanding deeper meanings in texts. The illustrations of the story are visually appealing to readers. The colors are bright and the characters are appealing to children.The illustrator used pencil and acrylics. A monkey is a familiar animal to kids, and of course they recognize cake, possibly one of their favorite desserts? As an IB Theory of Knowledge student, this book contemplates the idea of perception and language. The text even touches on epistemology as the emotions of the characters get more heated as they defend their belief. This book is deceptively simple on the surface. You can’t help but ponder the ending and as the ways of knowing surface, the complexity of the idea will boggle your mind.