What Is It For?
José Maria Vieira Mendes & Madalena Matoso
- Original Title
- Para que serve?
- Published
- Planeta Tangerina, 2020
- Genre
- Picture books
- Pages
- 64
- Rights Sold
- Basque
Catalan
Dutch
English
French
Italian
Korean
Spanish
Simplified Chinese - Tags
- José Maria Vieira Mendes, Madalena Matoso, Para que serve?, Planeta Tangerina, what is it for
What Is It For?
José Maria Vieira Mendes & Madalena Matoso
This book likes to ask questions.
This book prefers a world full of questions than a world with definitive answers.
Deep inside, this book likes some mess and asks questions because it knows they will stir up the world (and the world without some mess or mysteries is a sad and boring world).
Instead of giving answers, this book asks questions to questions.
Especially to those questions that apear more often.
How can you do that?
And what for?
Good question(s).
Press voices
“It’s above all a beautiful introduction to philosophy for children. Doubting, thinking again and questioning will always provide the essential starting points for more complex paths and pondering.” Expresso newspaper
“Perfect as a read-aloud or for imagination stretching, this quirky book will make for rich discussions and mind-blowing conclusions.” Shelley M. Diaz, School Library Journal
- Awards
- Bologna Ragazzi Award - Non Fiction, Special mention 2022
Recommended — Portuguese National Reading Plan
White Ravens 2021
This is an unusual and quite brilliant book – simple, intelligent, surprising, playful and deft in bringing its basic idea to readers. »What is this for?« is a question whose meaning and use few people probably ever reflect on – but it’s the focus here. Some things one just knows how to use, like a pair of scissors or a key. In other cases, something’s name reveals its purpose, such as a corkscrew or a toothbrush. A cell phone is one of those things that has many functions. And then there are things that serve many unexpected functions, as well as others whose function seems so self-evident no one would care or dare to ask: a human being, a rhinoceros, or sleep, for instance. This entertaining book inspires one to think about objects, functions, and language. Its idea and text bring it to life along with vibrant, brightly-coloured illustrations that entice readers to leaf through the pages again and again. (Age: 7+)
Are there things that have no use? What’s the use of a painting or a rhinoceros? Does something have to be useful to have a use? Every few pages, the unnamed narrator recaps the questions and resolutions discussed up until then. Kids will enjoy answering the questions and the discussions that may ensue because of them. The candy-colored illustrations are arresting and fun to look at. The kaleidoscopic landscapes and figures bring to mind Byron Barton’s artwork. The figures are childlike, with some characters having rectangles for bodies and others having orange, yellow, or purple skin tones. VERDICT Perfect as a read-aloud or for imagination stretching, this quirky book will make for rich discussions and mind-blowing conclusions. –Shelley M. Diaz, School Library Journal