From New York Times bestselling and Newbery Honor–winning author Shannon Hale and award-winning illustrator Tracy Subisak, comes a zany picture book that pokes fun at overly gendered notions of "boy books" and "girl books" and celebrates the pleasure of a good book.\
Stanley’s thrilled for bookmobile day—until the old man at the window refuses to lend him the story he wants, all because it features a girl. “Girl books” are only for girls, the book man insists, just like cat books are only for cats and robot books are only for robots. But when a dinosaur arrives at the bookmobile and successfully demands a book about ponies, Stanley musters the courage to ask for the tale he really wants—about a girl adventurer fighting pirates on the open seas. By speaking up, Stanley inspires the people, cats, robots, and goats around him to read more stories outside their experiences and enjoy the pleasure of a good book of their choosing.\
From School Library Journal\
Gr 1-3-Stanley, who has black hair and light tan skin, rides his bike through a cornfield, eager to reach the bookmobile to select a new title. Right away he spots the intriguing cover of a likely candidate. Unfortunately, instead of the usual Ms. Christine running the bookmobile, Stanley finds an older white man who doesn't think Stanley really wants to read a book with a (gasp!) female protagonist. Stanley watches in disbelief as a stream of patrons borrow the books that he wanted to read. A female friend named Valeria gets to read the book he first had his eye on, the cat gets to read the cat book, and the robot gets to read a robot book. In his heart Stanley knows that books shouldn't be restricted to one gender (or species), but he is uncomfortable speaking up. Finally, after all the readers trade books and an intimidating allosaurus really wants to read about ponies, Stanley finds the courage to speak up for himself. The bookmobile man realizes that readers are interested in investigating all kinds of topics and diverse stories. While the book is a humorous and interesting exploration of the mirrors-and-windows children's book ideal, as well as a lesson in how making assumptions about a person or their preferences can cause distress and confusion, some may find the portrayal of the bookmobile man to be ageist. There's no insight into why he holds his outdated and offensive ideas, and other than his impressive set of eyebrows, his only distinguishing characteristic is that he's old and seemingly out of touch. The illustrations are engaging, especially those depicting humans, animals, and even a robot enjoying a nice summer day's reading under a tree. VERDICT A nonessential purchase. Perhaps this is best taken as a reminder to kids that it's OK to speak up; adults don't always know best.-Alyssa Annicoα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

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