The Boy Who Knew Nothing

A boy full of questions sets out to find some answers in this silly, sublimely imaginative picture book.

On the day he was born,
before he could crawl,
the boy who knew nothing
knew nothing at all.

On the faraway island of Solo Capoo lives a boy who knows nothing. Not his As and Bs, not his twos and threes, and certainly not the name of the strange pink creature he finds one day in the dress-up box. His father says it’s a sleepy giraffe, which seems wrong, so the boy sets out to discover the answer. But if all the wisest people in the land can’t tell what the creature is, how is a boy who knows nothing supposed to find out?After his clueless dad identifies it as a “sleepy giraffe,” a boy quests to discover the name of an object found in the family dress-up box. . . . MacKinnon’s suitably wacky illustrations, in a palette of pink, purple, teal, and sienna, present a patently alternative “wild,” with a gamer gnu, a singing owl (complete with mic), and a leotard-wearing dancer giraffe.
—Kirkus Reviews

After a boy finds a strange pink creature in his dress-up box, he goes on a quest to find out what to call his new friend,
but is dissatisfied with every answer he receives. Bold black lines divide a whimsical palette of green, purple, rust, and
neon pink in illustrations bereft of color blending, evoking the flat, layered sensibility of a mural that depicts his epic
journey. The boy who knew nothing reminds us all there’s no shame in a “silly” question.
—Foreword ReviewsJames Thorp is a writer and musician. He lives in London.

Angus Mackinnon is an illustrator and creative director. He lives in London.