The book features scenes of a shot traveling through a town, leaving holes in items including a policeman’s hat and a donut, deflating a set of bagpipes, and causing other scenes of mahem. Within each illustration is an actual physical hole that has been punched through the pages. The book is noted for the whimsical, unconventional gimmick, and has been identified as the pioneer of die-cut holes in picture book pages. Several ethnic and racial caricatures appears throughout the story, including a black woman
shown with a watermelon and
called "mammy". Rhythmic verse with an ABAB rhyming structure accompany the illustrations. Newell's novel die-cut hole concept was an innovation in children's literature, and influenced later artists including
Bruno Munari and
Jan Pieńkowski.
Dr. Seuss read
The Hole Book as a child and was likely influenced by its style and novelty. In 2013, Norwegian illustrator
Øyvind Torseter published a similar picture book punched with a die-cut hole called
The Hole. Newell was a pioneer of many new novelty picture book concepts,
Topsy & Turvy (1893) which could be read upside down and
The Slant Book (1910) shaped like a rhombus to symbolize the a hill. == References ==