Perfect

PreS-Gr 2-In an "if you can't beat 'em, join'em" tale, an uptight neatnik learns to loosen up a bit. A rectangular pink eraser works hard at keeping the pages of this book free of any marks. Along comes a rogue pencil with an attitude that finds enjoyment in taunting the eraser with swirls and smudges, dirtying up the crisp, clean pages. The two characters, with stick arms and legs and expressive facial features, begin a battle of wills. Their conflict escalates as the pencil fills more of each page with dark gray and the exhausted eraser has trouble cleaning up after him. In a "lightbulb" moment, the eraser figures out that it is possible to make pictures by strategically omitting sections of a graphite-filled page, thereby creating his own designs. When the eraser finds himself once again on a pristine page, he discovers it's boring, so he sets about remedying the situation. The yellow pencil and pink eraser-whose reasons for existing would seem to be at cross-purposes-are the only colorful elements in this clever, humorous, and otherwise white and gray picture book. VERDICT A fun read-aloud before art class or in a maker workshop.-Maryann H. Owen, Oak Creek Public Library WI

Copyright 1 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from October 15, 2018
Amato's debut features two writing tools with opposing dispositions: a yellow pencil and a pink, stand-alone eraser.One likes to make marks; the other delights in eradication. Can this end well? Clean, white backgrounds set the stage for opening strokes and smudges easily removed. The eraser exhibits confidence, but the writing implement picks up speed, creating--in rapid succession--an impudent caricature of its nemesis, a cyclone, an army of menacing pencils, and a forest that becomes so thick it's essentially solid black. Stumped, the eraser eventually swipes at the darkness. Although the attempts leave residual texture, the effect is pleasing. A sun created by erasing leads to a galaxy, and the neatnik eraser directs a newly hewn rocket onto a fresh page, exclaiming, "Eat my dust!" Soon, however, the devilish drawer is at it again. The eraser's response--rubbed-away letters forming the book's title--reveals that this strategy brings peace with the duo's differences (and that their interactions are actually enjoyed). Employing a controlled palette for the digitally manipulated photographs and hand drawings, Amato maintains interest by animating a few deft lines into ever changing facial expressions and by varying the page designs from panels to full spreads. Surprisingly, the pencil doesn't have any lines to speak; the eraser does all the talking, albeit in brief comments.Children will be amused by the relationship and intrigued with the technique, comprehending that one can draw with a pencil and an eraser--and that opposites can co-exist. (Picture book. 3-9)

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cactus girl - This is a story of a pencil and an eraser.The eraser likes everything nice and clean. But then a pencil comes along and messes up his clean page. The eraser does not like it but when he goes into a pencil forest he does not know what to do. This book is the BEST funny story I have ever read! The pencil is causing all the trouble. It's a SUPER good book. I'll give it a 5 out of 5! I would recommend it if you're bored or mad to get laugh out of you! I love this book and I hope you like it too!

December 1, 2018
Preschool-G An eraser stands confidently against a blank white page, asserting it's just the way I like it. However, a pencil believes otherwise, popping in and drawing squiggles here and smudges there, until annoyed Eraser chases Pencil away ( No pencil can mess with me ). But playful Pencil's sticking around?and, after some humorous sketches, the writing utensil gradually fills the whole page with graphite. Poor Eraser's dismayed ( I'll never be able to fix all of this! ), but the pink polyhedron's movements create shapes in Pencil's mess, like a sun, planets, and a spaceship to escape the slate-gray page. However, back on unblemished paper, could Eraser be bored? Thankfully, Pencil returns, and, working together, they happily make something special. Eraser's commentary and exhortations make up the bulk of the spare, lively text, while Amato's illustrations?a combination of hand-drawn elements and photos of the eraser and pencil?artfully tell the story with wry, wordless panels and droll touches of humor, all nicely conveyed with only a few lines. This entertaining debut celebrates collaboration, creativity, and how even complete opposites can eventually be friends.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)