Why?

by Lindsay Camp, Lindsay Camp

"WHY?" is Lily's favorite word. She asks it all the time. Her dad tries to give her sensible answers but sometimes he just gets upset. Then, one afternoon in the park, something rather unusual happens—something that makes Lily's dad very proud of her indeed.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Science Fiction, Juvenile, Fiction, Aliens, Storytime

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

Reviews

[Shaye Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This picture book flips back and forth between narrative prose and graphic novel squares with speech bubbles. Young Lily asks "Why?" to almost everything that happens with her father. It's incredibly annoying, but he continues to answer her every question. Then one day a space ship lands while they're playing at the park and Lily successfully convinces the Thargon aliens that their plans to destroy earth is not in everyone's best interest. She does this with one simple word: Why? With humorous crayon-like artwork, the funny little story ends with her father better appreciating his daughter's curious nature.

For more children's literature, middle grade literature, and YA literature reviews, feel free to visit my personal blog at The Miller Memo!

[Ansley Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

This science fiction book by Lindsay Camp, details the life of a young girl, Lily who is full of questions for her father. These questions range from why does it rain to why does she have to get up in the morning, and so many more. Although these questions initially irritate her father, they prove to be helpful when there is an alien invasion. Lily questions the aliens about why they are there and through her questioning, they realize they aren't sure the exact reason why they are there. Although her questioning seemed to be quite annoying in the beginning of the story, Lily ended up saving the day at the end of the story.
This book would be a great independent read or read aloud for children aged K-3. I would suggest allowing this as an independent read for older students and a read aloud for younger grades. In the classroom I could see using this book as the beginning to a lesson on questioning and inquiry in science, and in life in general. This book could encourage students to ask their questions and that their questions are valuable. I also would like to see students come up with a list of questions they have about a specific topic and share them with a partner and try to answer some of the questions they came up with as a lesson in the classroom. This should be introduced in an elementary classroom because of how valuable the lesson of the story is. Allowing students to feel like they can share their wonderings and not be judged by their classmates is a powerful lesson.

[Sourimak · Rating 2 out of 5]

Si je n'aime pas trop ces illustrations au crayon, je dois reconnaître que l'aspect mi album, mi BD est sympa, que la relation père/fille de l'histoire est très jolie et que la fin donne raison aux p'tits curieux !

[Gemma Gale · Rating 4 out of 5]

So funny. Talks about children always asking the question why.

[Joe Lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book can be used to engineer the understanding of the term "why" and when it is used. This can also aid a lesson in early language comprehension. As far as the story goes, it is rather random.

[Samantha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally found this an amusing intro to sci fi for my 4 year old🤣 I felt it tickle my memories of Futurama.

[The Brothers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A father goes slightly batty because his daughter is always asking "Why?" Then one day aliens come to destroy earth and she is able to stop them with her incessant questioning of Why? (Like you do...) Both boys (5 and 3yo) laughed uproariously the first time I read this. Perhaps because of the silly way I said "Why?"

Fun illustrations!

[Julia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hilarious picture book about a little girl who drives her parents nuts by asking 'why' about everything. Then one day she defeats an alien invasion by asking 'why?' to every order the aliens give her until they leave frustration.

[Drew Paige · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent book for early childhood for boys and girls that ask why all the time. I think children are in the simplest of learning stages and just want to know all the answers. This a great book for a girl who asks a lot of questions and instead of annoying people she ends up saving the day!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

This has funny parts. A dad is going batty over his young daughter's constant question: "why?" She says it all day long. He can't imagine anything good will come from this annoying habit, but when aliens show up (??) guess whose curiosity overkill saves the day?

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another fantastic random library grab that has become a favorite with the kids.

[Meadow · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fist we checked this book out in German. It makes a bit more sense in English.

[Edna · Rating 3 out of 5]

As irritating as constantly asking "why?" to every explanation or activity, this book show that the inquiry could possibly save all of mankind.

[Gail · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a cute story but my 3 year old daughter doesn't know much about aliens destroying the earth so she misses the point. Better for an older child.

[Kalynda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I selected this book because I thought it might have a science connection...but it didn't really explore that avenue. It was more about how annoying she was for asking "why" all the time.

[Simone Colwill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why? Why can a simple question be so annoying? Why do parents struggle sometimes with inquisitive kids?! Why? Is a hit!

[Danielle Ramiah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story was fundamental to the development of my brain and has permanently influenced the way in which I think to this day.