Common Sense Media Review
By Carrie Kingsley
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Girl stops supervillain in funny tale with powerful message.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 3+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In WHY?, Supervillain Doctor X-Ray flies into a mall and threatens to demolish a crowd of people too scared to do anything but run, until a young girl dares to ask him why. Repeatedly. With her simple curiosity, she breaks down his motivation, his anger, his frustration, and his bullying to arrive at a surprising truth.
Is It Any Good?
Author Adam Rex has tucked a deep message into this fun, funny, and visually stunning read-aloud book for families, classrooms, siblings, and emerging readers. At 60 pages, Why? is long enough to have a real story arc, and to have Doctor X-Ray's realization that "I'm the bad guy… I thought I was the hero…because everyone thinks he's the hero" come well before the last page. With every "why" uttered by a fearless child, the potential tyrant examines his life and motivations, showing that curiosity rules -- and can save the world. Younger readers might not get every layer to this story, but they'll have a lot to think about with this spectacular book.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about what makes a simple word like Why? so powerful. Have you ever changed your mind about something when you stopped to think about why you think that way?
Is it sometimes hard to admit, like Doctor X-Ray did, that what you're doing isn't the best idea?
Is it hard to stop and think about what you're doing before you do it? Can doing that be a good idea so you don't make a mistake?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Claire Keane
- Genre : Picture Book
- Topics : Superheroes , Adventures
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Chronicle Books
- Publication date : October 1, 2019
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 3 - 5
- Number of pages : 60
- Available on : Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Award : ALA Best and Notable Books
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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