Rather inconsequential as a story, but the pictures are really pretty. Not as stunning or as diverse as in [b:Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit: A Book of Changing Seasons|8526377|Snow Rabbit, Spring Rabbit A Book of Changing Seasons|Il Sung Na|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1366106267s/8526377.jpg|13393382], but very pretty all the same. ( )

The Thingamabob by Il Sung Na is about an elephant and an umbrella. Imagine finding something and having no one to explain its purpose to you. That's the elephant's conundrum.

The umbrella isn't a boat. It isn't a parachute. It can't hide him. So what is it for?

It's a delightful book with the pay off being in the adorable illustrations. What sort of things can you think of that an umbrella might also be? ( )

Our hero, a rotund yet delicate elephant, stumbles upon a bright red object but has no idea what it is. He explores it with his senses, asks his friends, and runs a series of experiments (flying, sailing, camouflage). Still at a complete loss he holds it aloft and cries out, "What are you, then?!" And the sky answers with a rainstorm. Pleased with his discovery, the elephant invites his friends to huddle under the umbrella with him. Young readers will delight in identifying the umbrella before the elephant does and following his humorous journey of curiosity and discovery. Na's illustrations are stunning as usual, with their rich texture and thrilling shifts of perspective.

This is one cute elephant - not too cutesy mind you -just very loveable. The story is very simple, but the illustration could almost make this work as a wordless book. Il Sung Na needs to move to the US and win some Caldecotts! ( )

Having discovered the marvelous work of Il Sung Na - a talented British picture-book illustrator of Korean descent - this past summer, when I stumbled across his beautiful A Book of Sleep, I had been eagerly awaiting the release of this, his second effort. With a deceptively simple text perfectly suited to a bedtime tale, and intricate illustrations that reminded me, at times, of Shaun Tan, A Book of Sleep made a big impression on me, and I was curious to see if The Thingamabob would measure up.

Although I am constrained to admit, after looking through it, that the illustrations in The Thingamabob are not quite the equal of those in A Book of Sleep - lacking that sense of mystery which so distinguished Na's first effort, perhaps because the palette here is so much lighter? - they are still immensely appealing, with whimsical little touches that brought a smile to my face.

Na's tale, in which a blushing elephant finds an unnamed object (an umbrella) and attempts to discover its purpose, has a gentle humor that is greatly enhanced by the artwork. I chuckled when he wonders whether he can use it to fly, or to sail, and discovers that he (most definitely) cannot. All in all, this is a lovely little picture-book, and even with my heightened expectations, and preference for Na's first book, my reaction was almost wholly positive. Il Sung Na is definitely an illustrator to watch, going forward! ( )