Arnie, the Doughnut by Laurie Keller

Hey, Story Seekers!

We need to discuss something uncomfortable.

Doughnuts.

Specifically, what happens to them after you buy them.

I thought we all understood the arrangement.

Arnie did not.

Arnie, the Doughnut is written and illustrated by Laurie Keller, and it starts with a freshly made chocolate-covered, sprinkle-covered doughnut who is certain that being chosen from the bakery case is the beginning of a wonderful adventure.

Technically he's right.

Just not the adventure he had in mind.

If you're new to Book Explorers, I'm Jungle Jimmy the Book Explorer, children's author, dad, and longtime performer for kids. Readit the Book Worm is my childlike expedition partner, and he is already looking at doughnuts differently.

This review may have consequences.

Book Breakdown

Arnie is having a big day.

He has been made.

He has been fried.

He has been iced.

He has been sprinkled.

And now he's in the bakery watching customers choose doughnuts and carry them off.

Arnie thinks this looks fantastic. Everybody gets picked up by a new person and taken somewhere.

Where?

He has no idea.

But he's ready.

Then Mr. Bing chooses Arnie, takes him home, puts him on a plate, and prepares to do the thing people have been doing with doughnuts for a very long time.

Arnie is horrified.

Mr. Bing is also surprised.

Most breakfasts don't object.

Arnie calls the bakery, hoping to warn the others, and discovers that they all already knew.

He's the one who missed the memo.

So now Arnie and Mr. Bing have a problem. If Arnie isn't going to be eaten, what exactly is a doughnut supposed to do all day?

They start job hunting.

Paperweight?

Arnie is not impressed.

Air freshener?

No.

Eventually they land on something neither of them saw coming. Arnie can be Mr. Bing's pet.

A doughnut-dog.

Sure.

At this point, why fight it?

Henry Holt published it in 2003, it became a New York Times bestseller, and Macmillan's current edition runs 40 pages for ages 4 to 8.

For teachers and librarians: ATOS 3.3, 2,374 words, lower grades K to 3 interest level, AR quiz 68979, 0.5 points. I didn't find a Lexile or Guided Reading level I'd stand behind, so I'm not printing one.

Jungle Jimmy's Journal

Keller could have coasted on the basic joke.

Talking doughnut discovers what people do with doughnuts.

That's already funny.

The part I enjoy most comes after Arnie survives breakfast.

Now what?

That's the better question, and it's the one most books wouldn't bother asking. Once Mr. Bing agrees not to eat him, the story has to invent an entirely new purpose for a doughnut.

And Arnie has opinions.

Many of them.

That's where his personality takes over. He isn't a helpless pastry waiting for Mr. Bing to decide his future. He rejects ideas. He argues. He wants a say in what happens to him.

For a doughnut, this fellow has boundaries.

The read-aloud challenge is that this book is busy.

Genuinely busy.

Keller fills the pages with side comments, little signs, background characters, labels, speech bubbles and business happening several inches away from the sentence you're actually reading.

You could race through the main story.

I wouldn't.

Kids are going to spot things. Let them. This is one of those books where a child interrupts because something ridiculous is happening in the margin.

That's not losing the audience.

That's the audience doing exactly what the illustrator was hoping for.

And because Keller handles both jobs, she can let the margins fool around without making the main story carry every laugh.

Some kids will love that density.

A child who prefers a clean page with one obvious place to look may find it crowded, and that's worth knowing before you choose it for a nervous reader.

This doughnut comes with sprinkles everywhere.

Readit's Review

WAIT.

The other doughnuts already KNOW?

Why didn't anybody tell Arnie?

He's sitting there yelling goodbye like everybody's going on vacation.

Somebody could have said something.

Also, I don't think a doughnut would be a good dog.

Can Arnie fetch?

What happens if it rains?

Does he get soggy?

And if you take him for a walk, every dog in the neighborhood is going to smell him.

That's a problem.

I like looking at all the little stuff around the pages because there are jokes that aren't where you're reading.

I would definitely miss some the first time.

Also, now I want a doughnut.

Sorry, Arnie.

Not you.

A different one.

What Others Think

Arnie has been around since 2003, so readers have had plenty of time to decide whether a talking doughnut belongs on the menu.

Goodreads has Arnie, the Doughnut at 4.17 out of 5 from 2,256 ratings and 353 reviews.

The recurring positive is exactly what jumped out at me: there is a lot happening beyond the main story. Readers describe going back through Keller's illustrations, catching side jokes, and finding details they missed the first time through.

One reviewer praised the humor working in both the words and the pictures, and specifically noted how much room the story leaves for funny voices when you read it aloud. Another singled out the surprise ending and the sheer volume of extra material packed into the art.

The professional reviewers noticed the density too. Kirkus described pages crowded with side comments, observing pastries, odd signs and other details that may take more than one reading to absorb, and still landed strongly positive. Publishers Weekly starred it, and Booklist described Keller's collages as full of puns and high-energy silliness.

The criticism worth keeping in mind isn't that the book is short on jokes.

It's that there may be too many places to look.

For a kid who likes hunting through a picture, that's the whole appeal.

For a kid who wants the story to stand still for a minute, Arnie is a lot of doughnut.

Belly Laugh Scale

4 out of 5: Big-Time Belly Laughs

The first big laugh is built into the premise. Arnie is thrilled to be purchased because he has no idea what purchasing a doughnut usually leads to.

Then Mr. Bing tries to eat him, and everybody has to renegotiate breakfast.

But Keller doesn't lean on that one joke. The side comments, background characters, ridiculous career options and Arnie's general attitude keep throwing small bits of comedy at you from the edges of the page.

Why not a five?

Because this one makes me inspect and grin about as often as it makes me laugh out loud. The humor is scattered across the page rather than driving one big comic engine straight through the book. That's a real strength for rereading and a mild weakness for a room of twenty.

Still, a talking doughnut negotiating his way out of breakfast has my respect.

Final Explorer Verdict

I'd hand Arnie, the Doughnut to kindergarteners through early elementary readers who like silly food books, visual jokes, busy illustrations, funny voices, strange characters, and stories that pay off on a second look.

For a kindergarten shelf I'd use it differently from Dragons Love Tacos or The Wonky Donkey.

Those two lock a group onto one strong repeating idea and ride it.

Arnie invites kids to explore the page instead.

Read the main story.

Stop.

Look around.

Who's talking over there?

What does that sign say?

What is that pastry doing?

Then keep going.

Which means it does a different job in a classroom. The other two are for the whole room at once. Arnie is better one-on-one, or with a small group close enough to point.

And underneath the silliness is a genuinely interesting problem. Arnie finds out that everybody else has already decided what a doughnut is for.

He disagrees.

Strongly.

Then he and Mr. Bing have to invent a different answer together.

Apparently the answer is dog.

I would not have guessed dog.

Readit still has questions about rain.

Until our next expedition, keep exploring those books.

Jungle Jimmy & Readit