Bored

The author-illustrator Felicita Sala’s wonderfully elastic watercolors give playful shape to Rita’s ennui in Bored. . . . Ms. Sala has a knack for describing the almost physical discomfort of deep boredom.
—The Wall Street Journal

Uses boredom as a portal to imagination. It follows Rita, its freckled protagonist — so bored she can’t read or draw or think — as she embarks on a fantastic and fantastical journey to the distant Sendakian shores of Bored Island, which, as it turns out, is anything but boring. . . . Sala combines the best of Henri Rousseau, Maira Kalman and Remy Charlip.
—The New York Times Book Review

Sala’s “Bored” is a marvel of wit, wonder and psychological insight. . . . The author never does anything as clunky as explain that long periods of idle time can spark wild bouts of creativity, but even the youngest readers will enjoy seeing that theme float up from these pages in goofily surreal images.
—The Washington Post Book Club newsletter

Sala perfectly captures the intolerable nature of boredom and how, when left uninterrupted, it can be a portal to infinite possibilities. . . . A fantastic depiction of the upside of boredom—readers will easily relate to Rita’s desperation while feeling bored and feel inspired by the places that the feeling takes her.
—School Library Journal (starred review)

Sala’s relaxed, expressive mark-making in earthy, textured watercolor and gouache is spot-on for a story about being at loose ends—one that might just convince readers to hang in there when boredom hits. Who knows where a mundane moment may take them?
—Publishers Weekly

The sheer physicality of the book is a key to its delight; this is ideal reading for kids who claim to suffer the same malady. Human forms are infinitely flexible, sometimes wiggly or flopped in impossible positions. . . . A clever reminder that from great boredom comes great invention.
—Kirkus Reviews

Sala breathes new life into this familiar tale with playful artwork and off-kilter humor. . . . Sala excels at depicting both the mercurial emotional energy of children and their delightfully unexpected flights of fancy in expressionistic artwork blending surprising pops of bright color and whimsical, elastic figure designs. Boredom is a feeling just about any kid can relate to, and Rita’s strange but captivating daydreams make a compelling case for spending time in one’s own imagination.
—Booklist

What starts as a child’s melodramatic apathy quickly turns into a vivid and humorous day full of imagination in Sala’s picture book. . . .Taking a page from Rita’s book, readers will be dazzled by where their silly and limitless imagination can take them to cure their boring days.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

The pictures are drawn with such joy and depict the physical embodiment of tedium. And it’s brilliant because it’s about boredom but inspires action.
—A Cup of Jo (blog)