The Nowhere Box

Zuppardi's art, done in mixed media, is the perfect complement to a tale about young boys and imagination. His rough, sketchy style..., bright palette and prominent use of cut, torn and colored cardboard gives readers a kid's perspective and makes it seem as if this truly is the siblings' story. ... George shows readers how imagination (and a few simple household items) can transport them to another world...and the ties that will bring them home. --Kirkus Reviews (starred review) The artwork is sophisticated in its two-dimensional, contoured comic style as well as in the materials it utilizes. ... The discovery of the need for playing together balanced with the need to be alone and the role of the imagination in navigating these important social poles speaks to kids of a variety of ages --School Library Journal

George's plight will be familiar to kids dealing with exasperating brothers and sisters or a budding sense of introversion, and his isolationist escapism is treated both gently and enthusiastically. Zuppardi's untidy illustrations in acrylic and pencil are kid-inspired with their scratchy, repeated outlines and thick, unevenly applied coloration; cardboard is used in the presentation of George's imagined worlds in Nowhere, giving the pictures a rough, three-dimensional whimsy and providing a clever nod to the box itself. George--whose red striped shirt and boxy imagination are reminiscent of Watterson's Calvin of Calvin and Hobbes in iconicity if not in nature--and his brothers are little more than glorified stick figures with huge heads, yet just a few facial details allows them to be strikingly expressive. Bound to appeal to a wide range of kids because of its celebration of both collaborative and solitary play, this could be used in a storytime about siblings or imagination... --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Making his picture book debut, Zuppardi, whose exuberantly scrawled pencil line and variegated palette is reminiscent of David Shannon, finds a rich source of inspiration in cardboard, painting and manipulating it to create George's pretend adventures. --Publishers Weekly

Though Nowhere starts as vast blank space, once George overturns his box, out tumble beautifully animated, page-filling illustrations made out of painted and torn cardboard. ... Zuppardi's expressive and playful illustrations are a delight to behold. --Booklist Online

[A]n invigorating tribute to the power of a child's imagination. ... Zuppardi's loose, energetic lines and primarily full-bleed spreads bring us George's highs and lows -- his manic glee in escaping his siblings and, when the book opens, his despair at their intrusions. There's a certain level of hyperbole at work here that is very funny. --BookPage Children's Corner

There are countless children's books about the power of the imagination, but few are as pitch- perfect as The Nowhere Box. There are several pages that stop the reader dead in his or her tracks as Zuppardi's illustrations pour over the page. --The Atlantic Wire

The natural cycle of an older brother's exasperation, longing for solitude and eventual return to the cheery noise of his brothers plays out in a funny fashion in Sam Zuppardi's 'The Nowhere Box'... The young reader will cheer for George but also feel a pang for the boys he left behind. ... [An] exuberantly illustrated picture book. --The Wall Street Journal