Not a Stick

Not A Stick by Antoinette Portis is a wonderful book about imaginative play. It stars a little piglet and his stick. Each scene starts with someone telling the piglet to "be careful" or "watch what you're doing" with the stick. The piglet then replies that it's "not a stick", it's a sword or conductor's baton or a fishing pole, etc.

It's a great book to remind us how a child's imagination works and how they can take something as ordinary as a stick from the ground and spend hours turning it into other things in their minds.

For me, this book also brought back a lot of wonderful memories. My brother had such a stick (and still has it in his "childhood memories" box). On any given day it was a sword, a conductor's baton, a horse, a show more gun/bazooka (if we were playing G.I. Joe), a fishing pole, or anything else his imagination could come up with. Reading this book brought memories of all those fun times flooding back.

I highly recommend this book! If you enjoy this one, be sure to check out the other book by this author with a similar theme - Not a Box. show less

Many recent releases in the world of children’s picture books have been detailed, complicated efforts—fantastic, highly elaborate illustrations or plots that revolve around big issues (death, divorce, gender, inequality) dealt with in a manner that the intended audience hopefully understands. Other books have been noteworthy for being ‘clever’, which usually means that the parents get a kick out of the wry humour even if the children being read to don’t quite ‘get it’. Into this crowded market comes another type of children’s picture book in the form of Antoinette Portis’ Not a Stick. A follow up to the wildly successful Not a Box, Portis shows how simple can be not only effective, but fun and entertaining as well.

This show more book is simplicity itself—each double page spread consists of one coloured page with a simple sentence and one page with a simple illustration. It tells the story of a little pig with a stick, who endeavours to explain to the unseen questioner that actually, it is not a stick, it’s a sword, or a conductor’s baton or a paintbrush. That’s it—no sneaky humour, no fancy flourishes, no message other than that kids are good at making stuff up. And that is the beautiful charm of this book. The only problem could be next time you tell your child to be careful playing with a stick that they now have the perfect comeback—‘But Mum, it’s not a stick!’ show less

Riffing on its predecessor, Not A Box, Not A Stick shows how limitless a child's imagination is with ordinary objects. It is sparely drawn and as cute as Not A Box, but loses a star for originality.

This is a very simple (and easy to read!) book about a boy playing with a stick. Oh, sorry - it's NOT a stick! As every other illustration shows, it's his wand, his sword, his paint brush, his drumstick.... What it is is a not-a-stick.

I love this paean to imagination. Simple and understated illustrations really send the message home.

I really enjoyed the book, and think it would be a particularly good one to read to early readers. Both the story and the illustrations are very simple, but it still holds your attention. I also am a big fan of any book that encourages children's imagination, and this book definitely does that.

This is a simple book with little text but a fantastic concept. A pig has a stick and someone (not in the book) continues to tell him to be careful with the stick. Each time he states that it is not a stick and in the illustrations the reader can see what the pig is pretending to do with the "stick". At times it is a fishing pole, a paint brush, a horse and a spear, among other things. I recommend it for preschoolers. If would be a great way to start a conversation about imagination with older children too. SEE ALSO: Not A Box

Utterly wonderful. My youngest liked sticks until he was 12 - but I had the sense to just let him be. Piglet is so creative - the stick is not only a sword and a horse but also a fishing pole, a barbell, etc....