Thingamajig by Rilla Alexander

Thingamajig by Rilla Alexander. Candlewick Press, 2024. 9781534493476






Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 4



Format : Hardcover picture book



What did you like about the book? A large elephant is missing something, but can’t remember the word for the thingamajig.  Little Elephant sets off to find it and discovers that lots of creatures are also seeking things.  A bird is missing a “hoo-zee-wots-it,” a squirrel seeks a “shis-moo,” and a bug is looking for a “na-nee na-nee.”  Readers soon discover through the illustrations that they are all seeking the same blue bottle cap.  The mystery is solved and the little elephant brings the bottle cap back to the large elephant.  The creatures then set out to find something for everyone to use to replace the bottle cap.  The illustrations, rendered in collaged photographs and hand-cut rubber stamps, are bold and full of bright primary colors.  The end pages reveal that all of the nonsense words used in the story are actually terms from various countries for what we might call thingamajigs.  For instance the word is  “shismoo” in Arabic,  “duppeditt”  in Norwegian and “naninani” in Japanese.  The text includes pronunciations of each word. A fun story that shows how everyone around the world sometimes forgets a word.  



Anything you didn’t like about it? No



To whom would you recommend this book?  One to share with children who enjoy silly words and playing with languages.



Who should buy this book? Public libraries, elementary school libraries. preschools



Where would you shelve it? Picture books



Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No



Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Catherine Coyne, Mansfield Public Library, Mansfield, MA



Date of review: April 26,2024