Technical specs
Portuguese title: Grande coisa
40 pages / 220 x 220 mm
ISBN: 9789898145376 / RRP: 12,50€
1st edition: September 2011
Whatever
(Portuguese edition)
Billy has a problem (unfortunately quite a common one) — he is extremely difficult to please. His father tries hard, he shows him the most amazing things, but Billy always answers with a weary shrug, “Whatever!”
It is true that parents can have the patience of a saint — and Billy’s father too — but there are times when even a father has to take drastic measures.
This is a book in which parents and children will recognise themselves, it will make readers of all ages laugh.
Technical specs
Portuguese title: Grande coisa
40 pages / 220 x 220 mm
ISBN: 9789898145376 / RRP: 12,50€
1st edition: September 2011
Awards and recognitions
Blue Ribbon Picture Book Award — The Bulletin magazine, The Centre for Children’s Books (2015)
Recommended — National Reading Plan (Portugal)
What they say
It’s a simple story, but it is never the story and always the way it is told, and I am happy to report that Bee, a British illustrator, does well on both the text and illustration fronts.
As the father parades more and more odder and odder things before Billy, “whatever” begins to seem less like a sarcastic put-down and more like a slangy, calming mantra, remedying the overeager theatrics of desperate parenting. When the tiger arrives, Billy’s “whatever” is accompanied by a shrug and a small smile as his father stalks off; the child is not unimpressed with the tiger, he’s merely facing the wrong way.
Daniel Handler, New York Times
Annoying children (or the annoying moments of almost every child) — who think that anything spectacular is less intriguing than their own navel — may not find William Bee and his words very amusing, while the rest of the humanity will admire it. The moral of this story doesn’t fall under political correctness for children, and it will serve almost everyone, regardless of their age.
Sara Figueiredo Costa, Expresso news