This is a story about a girl named Rita who gets so astoundingly bored that her boredom turns inside out and becomes enthusiastic imagination. That's the thing about boredom, of course: that it gives us the space and time we need to dig into undiscovered territory, whether in our minds or our activities.
Author and self-taught illustrator Felicita Sala — a recipient of the Italian Premio Andersen (Andersen Prize) whose books have been translated into more than fifteen languages — manages to make even the initial boredom really funny. Rita flops limply over the arm of a chair as she deals with being "so bored, she wasn't even hungry anymore, which was the first thing she usually was, when she was bored." Delightful details litter and adorn her room, including a picture on the wall of Babar the elephant, one of the most beloved children's book characters of all time. Rita jumps "in front of the mirror quickly to see if she could surprise herself." She makes bizarre movements and noises that cause her brother to exclaim, "Geez you're weird, Rita." But nothing helps.
It isn't until she lies completely still and waits a while that she starts to wonder how many other bored people are out there. This leads to a wild stream-of-consciousness adventure, purely imaginary, which includes a bus full of bored people who yawn so loudly that they start to swell like balloons, full of their own boring boredom. When they drift down to bored island, their discoveries could hardly be more fascinating: for instance, a student from Mumbai turns her yawn into a yodel, accidentally figuring out how to communicate with whales.
If you care for an early elementary-school child who ever gets bored (and honestly, who doesn't from time to time?), this book is a must. And do point out to your children that if Sala, whose illustrations burst with color and movement, could teach herself to illustrate ... well, maybe that would be one marvelous activity for them to try on a boring day.
