NAKED! BONUS PAGE NAVIGATION: HOME - About - NAKED! Press - Teacher's Guide - Printables & Other Fun - Reader Gallery- How NAKED! Was Made - Write to the illustrator - Blog - Site Map
Also see Debbie's Press, Interviews and Appearances. and the I'M BORED Bonus Page.
What people are saying about NAKED!
"Some books make you laugh, some books make you cry, and some books make you laugh so hard you cry." - Jim Bailey's "The Power Of the Picture Book" post on Kids Talk Kid Lit
"Picture books just don't get any better than Naked! It is sure to tickle your funny bone and leave a smile on your face and warm fuzzies in your heart. So highly recommended that I'm shouting it from the rooftops: Go out and experience Naked! ( I just love writing and saying that)." - Pamela Thompson, MLIS, Library Media Specialist, on ABookAndAHug.com
Review Excerpts about NAKED!
The New York Times on NAKED!:
“A pint-size streaker emerges from his bath and frolics in the altogether, reveling in his natural state as he runs through the house. 'Sliding down the stairs naked! Eating a cookie totally and completely naked!' Pants? Thanks anyway. But capes! Capes are a game changer. Black, a comedian as well as a writer, brings great comic timing to this riff. Ohi, who worked with Black on I’m Bored, makes sure readers get the joke.”
The Bulletin Of The Center For Children's Books (starred review) on NAKED!:
"From the opening spread ("Naked!" cries a boy in a bubble bath), this latest offering from the partnership of Black and Ohi (I'm Bored, BCCB 10/12) is an all-out celebration of the joys of being a kid. The initial jubiliation comes as the post-bath boy gallops around the house stark naked, speculating on other ideal spots for nakedness ("I should dress like this all the time. I could go to school naked. Play on the playground naked"). When Mom approaches with an armful of laundry, the boy resists -- "Who needs pants?" Or shirts or shoes or capes" -- before realizing the potential of that final thought -- "Wait . . . Capes???" He then rejoices in the perfect combination of nakedness and capedness ("Eating another cookie mostly naked but also caped!"), before inevitably ending up cold and all-out exhausted, noodled on a very patient mother's shoulder as she carries him to bed. The point of view is spot-on here, and the little boy protagonist is entirely lovable in his unadulterated elation. The text, all in our hero's voice, effusively conveys his energy, and the progression from bursting at the seams (or absence thereof) with enthusiasm to being completely, undeniably beat will be familiar to parents of animated little people. The digitally rendered illustrations, thick linocut-like borders and smooth planes of color with occasional texturing, match the energy of the story, and the mop-headed boy's expressions are sweetly effervescent. Full frontals are cleverly obstructed throughout, and the variety of angles and perspectives (viewed from above, behind, at a distance, up close) lend visual interest. This is a story that begs to be read aloud and delighted over by young and old alike. HM"
Publishers Weekly (starred review) on NAKED!:
"“Naked!” It’s fun to say and fun to be, as the team behind 2012’s I’m Bored proves with this tribute to the (temporarily) clothes-free life." ... "Ohi, working in more fully (ahem) fleshed out scenes than in I’m Bored, is an inventive, irreverent portraitist of domestic life—readers won’t be able to anticipate where her comic sense of composition will take them next (spoiler: one perspective is a bird’s-eye view of a naked Hokey Pokey, complete with dance steps diagram). Certain to inspire gleeful mimicry—not that some kids need much of an excuse to ditch their duds."
School Library Journal on NAKED!:
"Black and Ridpath Ohi follow up on their I’m Bored (S & S, 2012) with another humorous picture book that taps into children’s emotions..." "Black’s peppy writing style sets a fast pace for the story, and the child’s behavior is believable. There’s also a lesson here about one practical reason for wearing clothing. The whimsical digital artwork adds energy and color to the story. Characters’ moods are nicely shown through their changing facial expressions, while the illustrator’s choices of poses for the child leave anatomical details to the reader’s imagination. Images of the boy are replicated on the brightly colored endpapers. Parents sharing this story one-on-one with a child will find the picture book humorous on both a child and adult level."
Kirkus Reviews on NAKED!:
"Black’s tale is interesting not so much for its content, which has been done before, as for the sheer joy the young nudist exhibits. In fact, it may go so far as to persuade more straight-laced children to try the lifestyle out for themselves. As for the art, squeamish parents needn’t fear. Ohi appears so reticent to show true nudity that her boy doesn’t exhibit so much as a butt crack. (But that won’t stop little listeners from giggling.) Doesn’t cover particularly new nude territory, but children equally enthralled with going out in their altogethers will appreciate the enthusiasm here."
National Post on NAKED!:
In Anna Fitzpatrick's "best of 2014" post: "Complicated plots are so much less compelling than a simple story that can tap into the basest experience of being a kid, especially when it comes to picture books. Hence the appeal of Michael Ian Black and illustrator Debbie Ridpath Ohi's NAKED (Simon & Schuster), a hilarious, silly book about a little boy who just doesn't see the point of putting on clothes after his bath. Anybody who has had to face the struggle of wearing pants can relate. Naked is the duo's second collaboration (after last year's I'M BORED), and the two have once again proven themselves at being the most adept in summing up the frustrations of childhood."