NOT-A-BOX CITY

In this follow-up to Portis’ acclaimed Not a Box (2006), a bunny builder learns the value of teamwork while spearheading a cardboard construction project.

Being too short to stack a load of empty boxes more than two high, the bunny reluctantly accepts help from a giraffe: “Well, OK. But this is my city.” A line of ants (“We’re small, but we’re strong!”) get the same grudging response, but when a lizard starts painting a wall without permission, the bunny blows up and sends everyone packing. Remorse takes only a page turn, though, and in response to the bunny’s sincere pleas, the helpers quickly troop back to finish off the ragged cardboard cityscape. Portis’ illustrations, composed largely of line-drawn figures and variously sized bits of recycled boxes, appear simple at first glance, but closer looks reveal buildings that suddenly resemble faces, lines of tiny ants carrying tiny paint buckets, and other amusing details as the raw cardboard is in seemingly no time painted, cut, and glued into a magnificent urban assemblage, complete with cars and signs. Better yet, by the end, “my city” has become “our city!” with residents waving invitingly from the windows.

A pointed message for possessive types.