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Exclamation Mark | June 5, 2013

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, illustrated by Tom Lichtenheld(Scholastic, March 2013)

“He stood out from the very beginning.” Exclamation mark wants to be like his peers, a group of periods who all look the same. He tries everything to fit in, but it’s just no use. One day, when exclamation mark is despairing of his strangeness, a question mark approaches him and begins bombarding him with queries. Exclamation mark becomes so overwhelmed by the onslaught of questions that, much to his surprise, he shouts “STOP!” His outburst, and the gentle encouragement of his new friend the question mark, prompts him to try other words (“Yum! Happy birthday! Encore!”). The moment exclamation mark embraces his newfound ability, everyone else does, too.

“It’s okay to be different” is a tried-and-true theme of children’s literature. Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld deliver this classic message through the experience of an unlikely protagonist. Exclamation mark, drawn very simply on a dotted-and-lined background that resembles the paper we all used when we were learning to write, is an adorable, unique hero. Lichtenheld conveys an impressive range of emotion given the spareness of his art; a few masterful brushstrokes show us the anguish on exclamation mark’s face when he doesn’t fit in, the joy when he discovers his talent, and everything in between. Exclamation Mark also casually teaches young readers the functions of the three most common punctuation marks. A clever picture book from an award-winning team about finding your own special voice and being proud of it.

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