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Knock, Knock!

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KNOCK, KNOCK! multiple authors and illustrators; New York: Dial, 2007; unpaged. Picture Book.

Fourteen of the best contemporary illustrators of children's books fill these pages with laugh out loud knock-knock jokes and illustrations. Saxton Freymann begins with the tired old chestnut--two heads of lettuce asking for the person behind the door to "lettuce in," but when you turn the page, those lettuces have personality. Boris Kulikov has a very funny picture and joke for "Amos," and Chris Raschka unveils a splendid children's lit joke when "Verdi" comes to the door. The very funny and inventive book also gives the illustrators the chance to tell who they would like to find knocking at their doors ("Anybody but Ima," says Brett Helquist), and will give young readers an idea of how great illustrations can complement even the most basic text.
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