“Billy can be very difficult to please. Show him something very tall ... and he’ll say ' . . . whatever.’ Show him something very small . . . and he’ll say 'whatever.’ ” The curliest trumpet, the bounciest castle—none of the wonders his father points out draw a reaction from the determinedly unimpressed Billy. Even the world’s hungriest tiger only merits a “whatever”—until the tiger gobbles Billy up. Children will relish the satisfying conclusion, as Billy’s fed-up father retaliates with his own jaded response (you guessed it—“whatever”) to his son’s predicament. William Bee owes a huge debt to Maurice Sendak’s Pierre (Harper & Row, 1962) , but his cleverly composed digital illustrations and perfect pacing merit the attention of a new generation of children. Substituting the fresh flavor of “whatever” for Pierre’s “I don’t care” gives the timeless story about the price of rudeness an up-to-the-minute sensibility. Highly Commended, 2006 Charlotte Zolotow Award (Ages 4–7)

It takes extreme measures to get a response out of the stubbornly indifferent Billy in a wry little tale that readers of all ages will surely relate to.
Billy can be very difficult to please. Show him something very tall or very small, and he'll say, whatever. Let him play inside the bounciest castle, and he'll shrug and say, whatever. Take him for a ride in the smokiest train or the speediest spaceship -- it doesn't matter. Billy's reaction is always the same. What might the surly boy say if a hungry tiger came by and his nonchalant dad gave Billy a taste of his own medicine? William Bee's quirky illustrations give an amusing new spin to a familiar scenario that will have both children and adults laughing in recognition.