Con las manos en la masa

A boy and a lump of dough. That’s all. But in Yoshitake’s hands, that is enough to build a universe. The boy begins by stretching and kneading it with all his might. But soon he discovers there is so much more to do: poking, pinching, pressing his face into it, and enjoying the marks left behind. The dough becomes an object of endless exploration: he sits it on a chair, has it touch the dog, dances with it, wraps it around his body... He puts the dough in a cardboard box, tilts it, leaves it alone for a while... and the dough—as if it had fermented—begins to grow. And it grows, and grows. Excited, the boy climbs a ladder and dives headfirst into it, and the dough explodes with a loud crash. Then he gathers up all the pieces, apologizes to it, and starts all over again. Just as in *Stuck*—the title that launched this series and has been continuously reprinted worldwide for over a decade—Yoshitake takes something insignificant and turns it into a realm of philosophy: how can a child find so much in so little? The dough isn't a metaphor; it is dough, in all its materiality. And yet, this book is also a meditation on play, on unlikely friendship, and on the joy of starting over.