Arnie the Doughnut

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Arnie the Doughnut is a wondrous shaggy-dog story in which the title character comes to understand that “that’s what doughnuts are for—to eat” only after he’s been purchased. Discovering that his creator and his fellow doughnuts are not only aware of this atrocity but are also cheerful, willing participants, Arnie resigns himself to this ultimate fate. However, Arnie’s purchaser Mr. Bing is no longer comfortable with this prospect but does not want to be wasteful. In an ironic twist, man and doughnut make their way to a joyous cohabitation that enriches both of their lives. Keller masterfully blends acrylic paints, collage, and metafictive elements to create hilarious characters with whom audiences of all ages will connect and find themselves emotionally vested in their futures. The myriad of value-added features ranging from puns, labeling the setting, diagrams of the protagonists’ emotional state, and double-page spreads with a full bleed that are mimetic of Animé chase scenes with their jarring surreal images in the periphery are almost overwhelming as they hasten the pace of the plot and create a raucous, claustrophobic mood which is only broken by the montage in which Arnie is nearly eaten. Although children will howl at the sheer silliness of the book’s self­-awareness, high school students can appreciate Keller’s tale as an accessible introduction to irony.

• Arnie the Doughnut by Laurie Keller; illus. by the author
• Primary
• Henry Holt and Company
• 40 pp.
• Published 2003
• ISBN 978-0-8050-6283-0
• $17.95