Bored

Young Rita “was so bored, she wasn’t even hungry anymore, which was the first thing she usually was, when she was bored,” writes Sala (A Lost Cause) in this amusingly imaginative picture book portrait of childhood ennui. Sprawled across a pile of pillows, dark hair fanned like a languid pre-Raphaelite heroine’s, pale-skinned Rita envisions that she and all the world’s bored people are invited to board a bus that will take them to “a non-boring place just for bored people.” After yawning through much of the journey, the passengers inflate, spill out of the vehicle, and float through the air to Bored Island. But instead of being as tedious as its name would imply, the isle transforms the group’s malaise into deep creativity: three grannies start a band, and a professor’s game of “I spy” results in the discovery of new galaxies. As for Rita, when she’s called down to dinner IRL, she’s seen in her mind’s eye riding an enormous dragon through the sky as all the island inhabitants cheer below. Sala’s relaxed, expressive mark-making in earthy, textured watercolor and gouache is spot-on for a story about being at loose ends—one that might just convince readers to hang in there when boredom hits. Who knows where a mundane moment may take them? Characters are portrayed with various skin tones, some fanciful. Ages 4–8. Agent: Kirsten Hall, Catbird Productions. (Jan.)