The End (Almost)

The End (Almost)
Written and Illustrated by: Jim Benton
Scholastic Press
On Sale: February 25th
Review Copy From Publisher

To say that Jim Benton’s new picture book The End (Almost) strikes the right chords with readers would be an understatement. After reading it with about thirty classes from kindergarten through fifth grade, it shreds like Free Bird’s guitar solo. Donut burps and excuses himself at which point the narrator tells us that’s the end of the story. The rest of the book chronicles Donut’s attempts to squeeze out a little more story. He cajoles, comes back in disguise, even tries the old Costansa leave-behind. Finally the narrator relents, dropping an intriguing plot involving a robot, a talking ice cream cone, and a trip to the castle of rainbow candy unicorns, only to discover that this time, we really are out of pages. While the text is sparse, the right reader can easily give the clever language some extra poignancy. 

The perfect spread for a little reader's theater: Instead of reading the sign, just hold the book up in front of your face and peek over the top! 

Kids adore metafictive books. Some weave the story and the telling of it so tightly that the device creates an additional level of complexity (The Three Pigs, Chloe and the Lion). The End (Almost) takes a simpler, more playful approach. The straight forward argument between Donut and the Narrator makes for a great vehicle to discuss the elements of story. Students in the primary grades tend to discuss character, events, and problem/solution in very traditional texts. While The End (Almost) may be simple for metafictive, it can certainly be a springboard to a much deeper appreciation of these elements. The story our narrator tells has a beginning, middle, and end that is all one event: the burp. The conflict, Donut wants more story transforms the narrator into a character. And the solution (the beginning of an additional story for Donut) ends as another metafictive problem directly opposite of the original. 

At the surface, The End (Almost) is a total kid pleaser, one they’ll beg you to read again. But it doesn’t only have to succeed for kids. For teachers wanting to engage their students in a lively discussion about the elements of fiction, Benton gives you a book that becomes funnier the deeper you apply them. Kids from K-3 will be jumping out of their seats to contribute their analysis. while it can offer a great review for students in the upper elementary grades, along with a good chuckle.