Idan Ben-Barak (text) and Philip Bunting (illustrator), The Very Hard Book, Allen & Unwin, August 2022, 32 pp., RRP $24.99 (hbk), ISBN 9781760526221
The very hard book asks kids to do things that are absurd or logically impossible – “drop something by accident”, “dig half a hole”, “sit in an empty room” and more. As such, it’s a silly and entertaining introduction to metacognition (thinking about thinking) and philosophy of mind, by prompting us to think about free will, mind-body connection, infinity, logic, paradoxes and perception. Helpful explanations of the formal theory, behind each page’s concepts, are on the back endpaper’s illustration.
The author, Idan Ben-Barak, has won awards for his talent at conveying complex scientific concepts in amusing, easy to understand picture book format. The illustrator, Philip Bunting, is another award winner whose distinctive style of bold, bright and funny illustrations have attracted shortlistings for many awards.
With this clever book they seem to be on to another winner. I love the innovation in clearly and succinctly presenting a complex and unique topic for a picture book, in a playful, entertaining way. Bunting’s skill in illustrating intangible concepts with humour, is nothing short of impressive.
I highly recommend this book for adults to read with an older picture book audience (aged about 5-9 years), to chat about the theories it poses or just have a laugh about the silly ideas.
Reviewed by Barbara Swartz
