Green Pants by Kenneth Kraegel

Green Pants by Kenneth Kraegel
Candlewick Press

Rating: 5 stars

The star of this book, Jameson, is going through a phase that I bet your children have gone through before: He wants to wear one thing day after day after day. That one thing for my Kiefer was a superhero t-shirt. That one thing for Jameson are his green pants.

In his green pants, he can do anything! He can dunk, dive, and dance.

What's the problem, you're wondering? His cousin and his lovely fiancee ask him to be in their wedding. Transfixed by her loveliness, he says yes. His mother then explains to him that being in a wedding means to walk slowly, pose for pictures, have good manners and...wear a tuxedo. That is black.

Jameson is caught in the throes of indecision. This brilliant picture cracks me up and accurately captures that moment we've seen and been in before:

Jameson's mother deftly maneuvers around Jameson's angst. She pats his shoulders, and says, "It is a tough decision, but I know you can figure it out."

Another brilliant moment in the book! (And, as I know that you know, so very tough to do in real life.)

Jameson chooses the tuxedo and is a model ring bearer throughout the wedding and reception. Until the music starts. And then, in a fantastic dance-leap, he changes out of his tuxedo pants and into his beloved green pants:

And then "Jameson danced as no one danced before."

This book is just brilliant. I'm sad to return it to the library!

Jake the Fake Keeps it Real by Craig Robinson and Adam Mansbach

Jake the Fake Keeps it Real by Craig Robinson and Adam Mansbach, illustrated by Keith Knight

Crown Books for Young Readers

Rating: 4 stars (my kids would give it a 5)

Here's a new middle grade novel, one that was written to tickle the funny bone of every child who reads it. It has two authors: one (Craig Robinson) is an actor/comedian; the other (Adam Mansbach) is the author of for-adults-only book Go the F**k to Sleep. It's a good one to know about: it's a slim book chock full of silly illustrations by cartoonish Keith Knight, so it's an easy read for a above-grade-level readers but also engages readers who are struggling a bit. There's a ton of incentive to read because readers are going to want to get to the next joke! This book will get passed around the car from one child to another.

But this book is also good to know about because it's a great audiobook--Sullivan Jones performs it superbly, with silly voices, big songs, amped-up reactions to things that he'd easily win a standing O from the children in the back of your car. You might want this audiobook for a long car ride this summer...

So what's it about?

Jake declares himself the dumbest school at his touchy-feely "smart school," a magnet school in a fictional city. He realizes that he wants to fit in, and in this school you've got to be weird to fit in, so he brainstorms schemes that are so funny I laughed out loud at them--and I know my children would have laughed even harder. 

Things come to a head during the school talent show, when Jake feels he's got no talent whatsoever. But he pulls out a great act when he remembers that one time someone thought he was funny. So he runs with it, and tries his first little comedy act, and it goes really well. He's found himself, he gets laughs and high-fives from all his classmates, and he feels like he finally fits in.

Parents should know that, like most comedians, Jake is irreverent and pokes fun at anything and everything. He might offend an adult at some point or another. My two eye-rolling points were: First, when he described a home-schooled child as socially awkward in what I felt was a demeaning way; second, when he said "Americans get type 1 diabetes just by looking at large drinks from 7-11" or something like that. 

But I admit that these statements were a little funny because they are a little true. And kids love to laugh. Kids NEED to laugh! And...you know, we adults do, too. 

The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat and Mo Willems

The Cookie Fiasco by Dan Santat and Mo Willems
Disney Press

Rating: 5 stars

Four friends. Three cookies.

Is there any better start to a book? Because if you have ever been in a situation like this one, I assure you: it's a fiasco.

These four friends are beside themselves with despair. They think of possible solutions to the problem. Alligator suggests that the two little squirrels share one cookie. One squirrel states that Alligators shouldn't like cookies. Hippo suggests the cookies be allotted according to size. The final squirrel throws her hands up in the air--she's too overwhelmed with the thought of cookie loss to solve any problems.

Then, Hippo starts breaking the cookies. It's what he does when he's nervous, another friend explains. She can't help herself! She breaks them all once, and there are six half-cookies. A few pages later she breaks all of those in half. Suddenly, there are twelve quarters.

"TAKE THEM AWAY FROM ME BEFORE ALL WE HAVE ARE CRUMBS!" she screams.

Each animals grabs some cookies...and (I know you've guessed it) they each have three pieces of cookie in their hands.

Talk about a smile-inducing book right before bedtime! (Or anytime!)

I knew this book was going to great because:

• The title: it had the word fiasco in it. And fiasco is such a great word--in general and for young readers to know.
  
• It is written and illustrated by Dan Santat. He's the guy who created the gorgeous story and pictures in The Adventures of Beekle, so I knew he'd bring warmth and silliness to any and all characters in this book.
  
• This book is in a new series called "Elephant and Piggie Like Reading! Series" This series is launched from the enormous success of the enormously wonderful Mo Willems' Elephant and Piggie books. While at first I was annoyed by the marketing of it, the books selected for this series are really great easy readers for readers who are making the big leap into reading by themselves.

Laundry Day

Laundry Day written and illustrated by Jessixa Bagley
Rating: 5 stars

Two badger brothers star in Laundry Day, a new picture book written and illustrated by Jessixa Bagley. Two badger brothers  start the book with a statement brothers (and sisters!) have been saying since the beginning of time: "I'm bored."

They're complaining to their mother--the receiver of all complaints since the beginning of time. They inform her they've already read all the books (and then again backwards), built a fort (and invaded it), and caught all the fish (and let the fish go). So, she does what this mother would do. She invites them to do a chore.

"Would you like to help me hang the laundry?" asks Ma Badger.

They've not done that! And yes, they would!

She shows them how and they hop right to it. Then she leaves to go to the market (I love this "picture book magic" that leaves the two of them parent-less and unsupervised) with the two badger brothers pinning shirts and sheets and socks and skirts. They are busy. They are happy.

Until they get to the problem of the story: they run out of clothes. And twine.

"TIC AND TAC! What have you done?!" she hollered.

No matter! They've got more twine! One badger brother strings some up, while another runs inside. They gather anything and everything their badger brother hands can find: aprons and mugs and spatulas from the kitchen, maps and framed pictures and a toy boat from the den, a toilet seat and tissue box and scissors from the bathroom.

These two brothers string up more twine so they can hang up more stuff. And this made me and Kiefer, two happy readers, chuckle as we paused to look at each silly item hung up to dry.

You can imagine Ma Badger's reaction. So, she does what this mother would do. She adds them to the line!

This is a cute and silly and all-round-great new picture book where the words and story are good but the pictures are spot-on and perfect. It invites you to sit down with the same book again and again and possibly find one new things these mischievous badger brothers strung up on the line together.

Dylan the Villain by K.G. Campbell

Dylan the Villain by K. G. Campbell
Rating: 5 stars

Viking

When I was a kid, my dad used to root for the bad guys. He'd whistle and cheer for Captain Hook, explain how the Big Bad Wolf got a bad rap, and smile broadly when Jafar or Ursula wreaked havoc. Villains always got his attention and support.

He'd love Dylan the Villain! Dylan is a super-villain born to unsuspecting parents who soon realize that he's a little different--his costume is super scary, his laugh is super crazy, his inventions are super-villainous. They believe he's the most special villain around.

Until he goes to school.

(Super villain school, of course. Called "Astrid Rancid's Academy for the Villains and Vile.")

There, he meets other villains just like himself. He fares pretty well, in comparison, to everyone except for one. One girl. Addison Van Malice. Addison Van Malice's costume is bone-chilling, her laugh is "bananas," and her inventions are demonic!

Addison Van Malice

A rivalry ensues, and a contest to build the most diabolical robot becomes the perfect place for their battle to play out. Dylan gets a huge bunch of parts from the diabolical robot supply closet and heads home to make the most diabolical robot ever (while his ordinary parents sit on the sofa and watch TV all night). By the end of the night, he is finished and pretty sure the trophy will be his.

But then he gets to school and sees Addison Van Malice's most diabolical robot, which is so big it can't fit onto the page. Everyone is impressed, including Dylan. But then, Dylan sees a big, red button on the side of this diabolical robot, and he does what any kid would do--he asks what it does WHILE pushing the button.

The diabolical robot, with Addison Van Malice inside at the wheel, blasts off into space!

Our hero--oops, I mean, the super villain Dylan--wins the contest and it turns out the rivalry is far from over...

The Great Pet Escape by Victoria Jamieson

The Great Pet Escape by Victoria Jamieson
Rating: 5 stars

Henry Holt & Company

What do you need when one of your children gets the dreaded GI bug while at the beach during Spring Break? You need a laugh, that's what--both you and your child need to find some reason to laugh despite this miserable situation.

That's exactly what happened to my son two weeks ago. After driving for five hours to get to the beach, he got sick. He was so miserable--exhausted yet awake, feeling icky but wanting to snuggle in close with me. He called out, "Mom, will you read to me?" I grabbed a few options from our library bag; he chose The Great Pet Escape, a new graphic novel written and illustrated by the author of Newbery Honor-winning Roller Girl, Victoria Jamieson.

Talk about an escape from your own reality! This book was just what Ben and I needed.

The Great Pet Escape starts with a hamster explaining his situation: he's the second grade class pet at Daisy P. Flugelhorn Elementary School, and he's been stuck in this "prison" for three months, two weeks, and one day. He's got to bust out, find his two friends who are locked up in similar situations, and get the heck out of this school.

George accomplishes his first step--get out of his own cell--by stealing away bits and pieces of classroom items that the kids drop in his cage and inventing a machine that will propel him towards the cage door. The bobby pin he's acquired does the final trick of opening the cage.

When he finds and frees his two friends, the conversations on how school has changed them are surprising and hilarious. Unlike George, they don't hate their new situations. In fact, they kinda like the kids and the books they get to read and the feelings they get to talk about. But they are willing to leave this all behind and escape with their pal George to the outside world.

But when they go to escape, their plans go awry. The fourth grade pet mouse stands in their way, with an army of white mice behind him, and the three pets suddenly find themselves fighting for the kids, protecting them against the head mouse's evil plans to make grosser-than-gross food and serve it up in the cafeteria.

The rest of the book is laugh-out-loud funny while the two groups of class pets duke it out in the student-free halls of school.

I love how Jamieson takes the familiar school setting and the friendly class pets and shakes things up with a wonderful, imaginative adventure. I love how her silly drawings and funny quips made my sick son and his tired mom laugh out loud every few pages. My younger son (nearly 5 years old) heard us laughing and wandered in, so I ended up reading the book a second time to him. He loved it as much as Ben did. Then their big sister Lorelei (nearly 9 years old) wanted a turn with it. What fun that this book got six thumb's up from three kids at three very different points in their reading life.

The size of this book helps with its accessibility, I think. It's a slim graphic novel, so it's perfect to tuck into the car as a surprise book during a long road trip, when kids are tired of being in the car but still need a distraction from the fact that no, we are not there yet. My kids and I had fun conversations about what the animals in our lives do when their humans aren't around, though I'm pretty sure our good dog Lulu is content to sleep, uninterrupted.

Well done, Victoria!

If Kids Ruled the World by Linda Bailey

If Kids Ruled the World by Linda Bailey, illustrated by David Huyck
Kids Can Press

Rating: 5 stars


I'm pretty sure every child on Earth would cheer if they got the chance to read this book. It is a brilliant crowd-pleaser of a book.

If kids ruled the world, here's what would happen:

Your doctor would say, "Eat your birthday cake so you'll grow up strong and healthy!"

You could wear anything you like. A T-shirt. A tutu. A tuxedo.

If you want to travel a long way, you could take a pirate ship.

You could have all the pets you like. Any kind!

Every yard would have a lake with frogs for catching and rafts for riding.

You'd never have to take a bath again.

You could go to any kind of school you like...
circus school, fairy school, inventing school, recess school.

All the sidewalks would be trampolines, all the cars would be ponies.

And, to end it just right, all the grandparents would remember how to play, and they'd join in, too. (No mention on the parents, though, which is funny to me--and understandable. Clearly, it's easier to remember how to be playful when you're a grandma, not a mom!)

As if the fun text isn't enough, when you add playful, fun images by David Huyck, this book is a no-brainer cheerer-upper for any day. My kids and I have had fun conversations about what type of school they'd attend if they could go to any school (inventing school, with breaks for recess school), and what type of breakfast they'd eat (cake).

Fun, fun, fun!

Everyone Loves Bacon by Kelly DiPucchio

Everyone Loves Bacon by Kelly DiPucchio, illustrated by Eric Wight
Farrah Straus Giroux

Rating: 5 stars

Yes, indeed. Everyone LOVES bacon in this house! For that reason, and because this is a very funny book, Everyone Loves Bacon was a hit at our house.

Synopsis: Bacon is a total hot-shot, look-at-me kinda guy who gets the attention of everyone around him. Pancake wants to sit next to him, Egg thinks he smells soooooo good, Hot Dog thinks he's the best. You get the idea. After all the adoration-filled pages on the counter of the diner, there's a shot of lowly lettuce, tomato, and avocado looking glum in the bare refrigerator. They miss their old friend.

Bacon quips, "Who needs friends when you've got fans?"

We were smitten from page one.

He's on to bigger and better things! He was the toast of the town! Until...

(spoiler alert)

...CRUNCH!

He got eaten.

Ha! My kids and I didn't see it coming and laughed like crazy at the last page, at the empty plate that once had haughty Bacon lounging on it.

So funny, very original, and makes me want to eat bacon.


P.S. To my step-sister: My respectful apologies to you. I will not get your children this book because you might remember how great bacon is, and give up your vegetarian-ness forever. :)

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins

Mother Bruce by Ryan T. Higgins
Disney Hyperion

Rating: 5 stars

Last night in between stringing the lights on our house and setting up the tree, I forced my kids to stop to eat dinner. They didn't want to--they felt and loved the momentum of decorating for Christmas and wanted to ignore their empty stomachs and increased crabbiness. They needed less persuasion when I promised we'd read books during dinner, a habit started nearly a decade ago when Lorelei was our only child and only a baby.

Ben grabbed Mother Bruce, but it was Kiefer who chose it first (the perks of being the youngest). And it was Kiefer who wanted to hear it again two hours later at his bedtime. It's one of those books--a book you'll read again and again because it's so funny, and so sweet.

Bruce is a grump of a bear who doesn't like sunny days or rainy days or cute little animals. He just likes eggs--eggs of all sorts. (Cue Bubba Blue's voice from "Forrest Gump" here.) Eggs on toast. Eggs Benedict. Deviled eggs. Eggs soufflé. Sunny-side up eggs. And then he discovered another "fancy recipe that he found on the internet:" hard-boiled goose eggs drizzled with honey-salmon sauce. Yum!

So he catches a few salmon, collects honey from a beehive, and visits Mrs. Goose to grab some eggs.

He runs into a few problems while cooking, so instead of getting hard-boiled eggs, he gets goslings. That's right: the eggs hatch instead of cook! Funny (and a little horrifying)!

It was hard work.

All of a sudden, Bruce is Mother Bruce with four goslings calling him "MAMA!" He tries to return them to Mrs. Goose, but she's gone south for the winter. The goslings won't stop following Bruce, so he tries to make the best of it. He tries to be a pretty good mama by bjorning the babies, letting them paint, feeding them, napping with them. The seasons pass and he tries to teach them to fly away, but they just buy warm winter stuff so they can stick around.

Finally, Bruce buys five tickets to Florida. And that's what they end up doing every winter: They go south together, and "laze about at the beach in tacky shirts, sipping ice cold lemonade, while Bruce dreams of new recipes--recipes that don't hatch!"

Dee-light-full!!

The story and the writing are both great--clever and witty and silly and good. But the illustrations bring the whole book up to another level entirely. The images just cracked us all up. Bruce pushing the grocery cart through the forest looking for ingredients sent my kids into a fit of laughter. Bruce dropping his load of firewood at the sight of four goslings starting at him from his pot made us smile. Grumpy Bruce with four innocent goslings following up a tree made them all laugh again.

You can't go wrong with this book--we give Mother Bruce eight thumb's up!

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, illustrated by Quentin Blake
Rating: 5 stars

Puffin

We've been all about Charlie and the Chocolate Factory lately. The kids watched the old version of the movie--the slightly creepy one with Gene Wilder--a few times at the beach in August. Then, we listened to the book on CD this month. And finally, a week or so ago, they watched the newer version of the movie, starring Johnny Depp. At breakfast the next morning we had a fun, slightly nerdy, conversation about the similarities and differences between the book and the two movies. 

The book itself is wonderful. Do you remember it?

Young, poor Charlie Bucket's wildest hopes are realized when he is the fifth and final child to find the prized golden ticket that will gain him entrance into Willy Wonka's chocolate factory. Kids don't go on the tour alone; each brings along a parent or grown-up as chaperone. The parents are one of my favorite parts of the book--the parents are rather hideous, backbone-less characters who've enabled their children to be the horrid, selfish creatures they've become. All but sweet Charlie, of course, who brings his Grandpa Joe.

Throughout the tour of the factory, all of the kids are treated to amazing sights and sounds and smells that are miles beyond their wildest imaginations. The other children are, one by one, ejected in fitting, surprising, mouth-dropping ways from the factory because of naughty, disobedient behavior. Finally, Charlie is the only one left. I forgot the end of the book, to be honest, and I was pleasantly surprised to hear Willy Wonka bequeath his entire factory to Charlie. When Wonka says to Charlie's protesting, "But Charlie! Nothing is impossible!" I felt my little-kid self swept up, wanting to believe him. I sure hope my kids do.

The book is inspired by Dahl's childhood (you can read about it as I did in Boy--Tales of Childhood), when Cadbury mailed test packages of chocolate to his boarding school in order to get the boys' opinions of their new products. And, back then, Cadbury and another company I've never heard of, Rowntree, would try to steal each other's chocolate recipes, just like people tried to steal Willy Wonka's recipes in the book.

We've listened to a few audiobooks this year, but this was the best. There were sound effects during the reading that made listening to it even more exciting...although Kiefer kept wondering when they were going to sing the Oompa Loompa song, which I'll now have in my head all day. 

First Grade Dropout by Audrey Vernick

First Grade Dropout by Audrey Vernick
Rating: 5 stars

Clarion Books

Oh dear ME this is such a funny book--and, better yet, wonderfully comforting for kids to read, especially at the beginning of the school year!

The narrator admits to being many things in his young life: hungry, four years old, crazy bored, soaking wet. But now he can add first grade dropout to his list. Because he did such an embarrassing thing that now he can never, ever, ever go back to Lakeview Elementary School tomorrow.

What did he do? He called his teacher, Ms. Morgan, "Mommy."

And everyone laughed. Including his best friend Tyler. "They laughed and slapped their desks and stomped their feet. And pointed. At me." Clever Audrey Vernick writes, "It was quiet. Then it started, all at once, like a big marching band of laughing people."

(Here's that big marching band of laughing people,
illustrated by clever Matthew Cordell.)

Our poor narrator can't imagine facing his class again, so he decides to drop out. He'll miss his friends and recess and a few other things, but he's got a plan to stay at home, work on his jump shot, get a job. You can tell this plan doesn't sit right with him, so he goes to soccer practice anyway. He sees his best friend Tyler, who acts like everything is normal.

Like the good best friend he is, Tyler listens to the plan and decides to drop out, too. "Awesome," Tyler says. "It'll be great! We can work on our junk shots."

Our narrator stifles a giggle. He tries not to laugh, but can't help it. Suddenly, he's smiling big and explaining to Tyler what is so funny--Tyler said junk shot, not jump shot. Tyler stands there for a second, but you know what he does next?

He laughs. At himself! Then they laugh together.

The boys decide to work on their junk shots tomorrow at recess, and show them to Ms. Morgan...er, Mommy.

Great, great, great message: That we all make some silly, embarrassing mistakes from time to time. And while we want to shrivel up and disappear or pretend like it didn't happen or invent a time machine to go back and undo it, it's easier and best to not take ourselves too seriously and laugh a little with ourselves.

(We parents can lead by example here!)

Super quick story in my own life of saying "Mom" when I shouldn't have: On my very first night of college during a super cool, freshmen-only retreat, I was sleeping in a bunkhouse with about 20 other freshmen girls. In the middle of the night I had a dream and yelled, "MOM!" loudly. In a shocking moment of maturity, I admitted it was me when a couple girls asked about it the next morning, and I laughed along with them. I was known as the girl who yelled for her Mom for a few weeks, then everyone forgot about it. Like people always do (though, at the time, it doesn't seem like that'll ever happen).

Again, fantastic book--and so very pertinent! Let's bolster our kids with the confidence in knowing that they can get over embarrassing stuff now, when they're young, so they can handle embarrassing stuff on their own in the future. Because we all know that, like it or not, embarrassing stuff continues to happen!

The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt

The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers
Rating: 5 stars

Philomel Books

Lorelei squealed when she saw the sequel to The Day The Crayons Quit in my library bag. She and Ben actually had an argument about who could read it first. The oldest won, and when she finished, she sighed and handed it to him, saying "It's sooooo good."

It IS "sooooo good!"

Most of Duncan's crayons are scattered around the house, some a little further from home. Maroon crayon (once used to color a scab) is marooned in the basement. Neon Red Crayon was left poolside on vacation and is doing her best to travel back. Yellow and orange melted together outside; their argument over who should be the color of the sun is now over because they recognize its true color: "HOT." Tan crayon has been eaten then thrown up by a dog and now has bits of carpet fuzz stuck to him.

Nobody likes "Pea Green." So he's changing his name
 to Esteban the Magnificent!

You get the picture...each crayon has its own funny story of why they're not within an arm's reach away from Duncan. And they all want to get back to him, get back to their normal life of being used to scribble and color and imagine.

After reading all the postcards from these now-damaged crayons, he runs around and picks them all up. But they can't fit into his crayon box anymore. Therefore, he builds a crayon house where they can all fit and feel at home.

This isn't the best read-aloud story in the world, but the creativity of the story and the illustrations is off-the-charts. How can my kids not look at the stuff lying around a little differently?! But now I'm worried they'll pick up even less, hoping to get a postcard or two from their toys!

Enjoy!

Rodeo Red by Maripat Perkins

Rodeo Red by Maripat Perkins, illustrated by Molly Idle
Rating: 5 stars

Peachtree Press

Well, I'm just fit to be tied! This rodeo book is all that I've ever wanted in a sibling-cowboy book!

And I never even knew that's what I always wanted!

But yes indeed, I am smitten with Maripat Perkins' clever and sweet tale of two siblings working out how to live together. It doesn't hurt that she's got Caldecott honor-winner Molly Idle (Flora and the Flamingo) illustrating "Rodeo Red," the heroine of this book; "Sideswiping Slim," her new little brother; and their story of a stolen pup named "Rusty."

Rusty belongs to Rodeo Red, and they "had always been happier than two buttons on a new shirt" until her little brother showed up. Rodeo Red nicknames him Sideswiping Slim even before his arms and legs reach out to everything that is hers.

Once Slim learns to walk, he wants to play with Rodeo Red, and wants her stuff, too. One day he steals Rusty, her stuffed dog and faithful sidekick--and her parents back him up. She tries to take justice into her own hands by sneaking into his room during a nap and stealing the dog back--but she just wakes the baby. She tries to tie up the thief, but...well, that doesn't go down very well either.

The Sheriff showed up and well...
What followed weren't pretty.

Rodeo Red gets thrown in jail. (Well, not jail really, but the backwards chair made my kids and I laugh out loud because it really does look like jail.) She's befuddled, frustrated, and locked up. Once released from jail, she slumps into her afternoon snack, trying to think up a plan.

A plan arrives in the form of a package with a swanky new stuffed animal for her. From her aunt, who is more of a "city slicker." The stuffed animal is not Red's cup of tea, but she successfully trades the beast for her faithful dog, and both siblings end the story happy.

I love it. Love, love, love it! The cowboy twang required of me to read this book out loud was sun fun and made me so happy that I wanted to slip it on top of the "to read" stack every day. Idle's illustrations are beautiful and funny (how she got that combination right is so impressive to me), but it all started with a great sibling story told in a clever, fun way. Loved it!

While You Were Napping by Jenny Offill

While You Were Napping by Jenny Offill, illustrated by Barry Blitt

Rating: 4 stars

Random House Kids

WARNING: Do not read this book to your child if she or he still naps!!

For better or for worse, my three kids are past the napping stage. Mostly, it’s a for-better thing. And after the explosion of cool stuff that happens in this book while one little boy takes a nap, they’d never nap again.

While You Were Napping by Jenny Offill is a new-ish picture book published by Random House in late 2014. It’s a story told in the voice of a big sister speaking directly to a little brother. You must know that the humor is slightly twisted, just a little mean, but to me downright funny. Like it or not, it's the stuff of siblings. This big sister tells her little brother all the fun adventures that happened while he—and he alone—napped. All the other kids in the entire universe were up, partying with pirates and carousing with juice boxes, while he snored.

Here’s the fun that’s had:

They lined everyone up on the diving board
From the bravest to the scaredest,
Then waved their big swords in the air
And told us to make our last wishes.

First, construction workers roared by in their working trucks. Since they were “bored with building,” they offered their vehicles to the kids. Since there was no grass left when they were done bulldozing, the next cool activity they moved to was digging up dinosaur bones.

As if that wasn’t enough, some enormous robots strolled by with blue cotton candy—wouldn’t you know it? the slumbering child’s favorite kind—and the only other thing available to eat were french-sandwiches. No “please” was heard for miles.

Fireworks and rockets, lit by even the youngest of babies (yikes!) got the firefighters’ attention so they raced to the scene with their sirens screaming. The fire also attracted pirates with bandannas and eye patches, who lined up everyone on the neighbor’s diving board and threatened to make them walk the plank.

Finally, some astronauts arrived on their rocket ship to take everyone to the moon. The upside: learning to function in zero gravity. The downside: plenty of moon dust in the kids’ boots.

Luckily, none of this woke up the sleeping boy. How shocking to see the boy’s face turn grumpy despite his long nap! 

Rest assured that was the last nap of his life.

This was a delight to read to my three kids, who roared with every new page. With my slightly sarcastic sense of humor, they are pretty tuned in to what’s fact, and what’s fiction. Their sense of humor, especially the second and third children (both boys), is a little twisted. This book is not for that literal lad who might believe a little too much of it. Or for any child who is still napping—unless you don’t want that child to nap again. Ever.

Gooney Bird Collection by Lois Lowry

Gooney Bird Collection (includes Gooney Bird Greene, Gooney Bird and the Room Mother, Gooney the Fabulous, Gooney Bird is So Absurd) by Lois Lowry
Random House
Rating: 5 stars

Lorelei, Ben, Kiefer, and I listened to this collection of Gooney Bird Greene books while traveling to, around, and from the beach this month. Because the beach we love the most is a solid six hours (without crazy beach traffic) away, I thought I'd try a few audio books. I looked for short ones, less than an hour long. This collection, by the prolific and talented Lois Lowry, was their second try. (The first, The Twits by Roald Dahl received a ho-hum rating from them.) This collection was a smashing success!

Gooney Bird is the clever, eccentric new girl who brings intrigue and excitement (in appropriate, elementary-school ways) to her classroom. She wants to sit smack-dab in the middle of the classroom because she likes to be smack-dab in the middle of the action. She wears tutus and sometimes underpants on her head (it's a "two pony-tailed hat," not underpants!) and even stilettos once, though she has buyer's remorse about them because they're so uncomfortable. She tells crazy stories that sound like far-fetched whoppers but are actually true, and she takes time and pride telling the whole story to her classmates.

What makes me want to climb the nearest hilltop and shout about these books? Lois Lowry has the recipe for a fantastic middle grade book because of the wild and funny, mostly believable but sometimes looney character of Gooney Bird. My kids loved her--Ben and Lorelei cheered for her, begged for me to put the CDs on in the car for even a five minute drive. And Lowry has the perfect amount of humor and education in each book. 

The classroom's teacher, Mrs. Pidgeon, and Gooney Bird herself teach the class (and all the readers) a huge amount in and through the books. In Gooney Bird Greene, Mrs. Pidgeon uses Gooney Bird's wild stories to teach how to write a story--how to have interesting characters, create a setting, weave a plot, add some suspense, etc. Gooney Bird is satisfied with her role as "junior teacher" (though I suspect if she was in a real-life classroom setting the teacher would want to bump down her importance just a notch). In Gooney the Fabulous, the class learns to write fables, and Gooney Bird's classmates all take turns sharing theirs, and Mrs. Pidgeon listen and critiques each one. In Gooney Bird is So Absurd, the class learns all about poetry and how to write different types of poems, including rap, which my kids loved.



Any age can listen, but because the books take place entirely inside the classroom, Kindergarten through fourth grade is its sweet spot. Highly recommend!

Cat Says Meow and Other An-i-mal-o-poe-ia by Michael Arndt

Cat Says Meow and Other An-i-mal-o-poe-ia by Michael Arndt
Chronicle Books

Rating: 5 stars

This is a picture book. Of that I'm certain. But it's not a traditional story--it's just an example of how to have fun with words and pictures. Ben saw it at the library and handed it to me with, "You've got to check this out, Mom. I saw it in school."

My trio and I have paged through it several times--Kiefer can "read" it by guessing the animal sound, and we all appreciate the cleverness of artist Michael Arndt and appreciate how he used the animal sound to draw the animals.

Look at how he uses "Quack" and "Glub" and "Moo" and "Oink" to draw a duck, fish, cow, and pig:

As Ben says, you've got to check it out!

My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.) by Peter Brown

My Teacher is a Monster! (No, I Am Not.) by Peter Brown
Little, Brown Books for Young Readers

Rating: 5 stars

Here's another great book by author/illustrator Peter Brown that teaches kids that there is sometimes more to a person than what you see at first...

Bobby gets straight to the point: "My teacher is a monster." We readers can already tell by the great illustration by the uber-talented Peter Brown. Mrs. Kirby looks all right from the neck down in a prim, old-fashioned dress. But her head...yowzah! Yup, definitely a monster with those snaggly teeth and bumpy skin and ferociously mean, unamused, constantly grumpy eyes.

"ROBERT!" Mrs. Kirby roars at him when he makes a paper airplane.

Bobby is appropriately frightened of her, so when he sees her at the park one day, he completely freaks out.

Gasp! (I love it when they first spot each other a the park.)

Yet he knows he can't be rude. So he raises his hand to being a hilariously awkward conversation pointing out how strange it is to see her out of school. Mrs. Kirby agrees, and they sit in awkward silence.

Until something happens that changes their relationship and view of each other forever.

A gust of wind blows off her hat, and she frets and worries and nearly cries as the hat is near and dear to her. They both chase it this way and that, but Bobby is the one that catches it.

"Oh, Bobby! You are my hero!" Mrs. Kirby exclaims.

They both freeze by the un-monster-like gratitude that just happened, but they can't undo what was done and said, so they begin to have a less awkward, more lovely day at the park as each shows the other what they like to do there, when alone. As they play together, Bobby sees her in a new light, sees different sides of her he's never seen before. Through the illustrations, as Bobby gets to know her, and she gets to know him, too, Mrs. Kirby transforms from a monster to a normal human.

(Except she's still monster-like when he makes paper airplanes in class, which I completely understand. We all have a finite amount of patience...or at least I do...!)

This book has been out for quite some time so you've probably already seen it before. I even listened to an interview when author/illustrator Peter Brown talked about the process of making the book, and about how he had to be careful when he went on author visits to schools because, well, he didn't want to plant the idea in kids' heads that their teachers were, in fact, monsters!

This is a fantastic book with a great lesson with illustrations both funny and spot-on. Peter Brown has done it again! (To see all of my reviews of his books, click HERE.)

Frindle by Andrew Clements

Frindle by Andrew Clements
Atheneum Books for Young Readers 

Rating: 5 stars

After Lorelei begged me to read this for nearly half a year, I finally picked it up and read it in the crazy-busy last week of school. Much to the delight of the clutter in my kitchen, I'm never too busy to read! Lorelei is right--the book is hilarious and very worthy the praise it's received over the years.

(Frindle is a short chapter book and fine for kids to read on their own, but fun to read aloud with them.) 

Is Nick Allen a troublemaker? Not really. He just wants to make the time spent in his school a little more interesting, and when his usual pranks don't work with his new teacher, he has to get creative. Inspired by his teacher's love of words, and her very own explanation that we the English-speaking populace give credence to the definition of words, Nick invents a new word: "frindle." It means pen.

In just days the word spreads through the school, in weeks it goes beyond the school, and soon enough the word "frindle" is the next Big Thing in the country. It's hilarious to watch the debate between clever Nick and his teacher about whether he should get in trouble for this or not. I'm happy to report that relationships between the kids and grown ups in Frindle are respected though boundaries are pushed a bit...in an age-appropriate and above-average very funny way. Oh, and the ending is surprisingly tender-hearted. 

Without a doubt this is one of the best middle grade books I have read--so funny, so clever, so sweet! I continue to search for well-written books that feature great story lines and clever humor rather than cheap humor and yucky sarcasm. Some of the recent middle grade books that Lorelei and Ben have read in the past school year are just...not so awesome in my humble opinion. Yet Frindle is definitely in the category of Great Summer Read. Can't recommend this book enough for your summer reading list!

(And if you like it, Andrew Clements is known for mastering the middle school voice and has written dozens of chapter books about elementary and middle school! Click HERE for a list of his books.)

Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl

Boy: Tales of Childhood by Roald Dahl
Puffin

Rating: 5 stars

Well, it's a fact: My childhood was a snooze-fest compared to Roald Dahl's exciting one. Then again, perhaps I should count my lucky stars that I wasn't one of a huge brood, that I didn't get shipped off to boarding school a little too young, that I didn't get beaten for tiny infractions, and that I didn't grow up in a world stricter than strict!

I've wanted to know more about Roald Dahl for a long time, and this autobiography of his youth was incredibly satisfying. It was also a riot! I loved it--laughed out loud several times while reading it, not caring if I looked like a loon while laughing in public at a beat-up library book that is probably meant for children. 

As a child I read a lot of Roald Dahl books, and I remember vividly my mother reading The Witches out loud to me--and having it be creepy and hilarious at the same time. That's quintessential Dahl for you... This would be a fun book to read out loud with kids, too, but also a fine one for them to read on their own. Either way, I think it's most appreciated after you or your child read a few Roald Dahl books. 

In Boy, Dahl writes about the part of his life where the idea for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory  came from (at boarding school Cadbury would give chocolate bars to boys and ask them to test them, and Dahl realized that the chocolate creators, those inventors of all things sweet and rich and chocolatey, took their jobs very, very seriously...). Also, it's clear from the horribly funny run-ins with The Matron at his boarding school where the inspiration of the headmistress in Matilda came from! 

An early chapter reader might enjoy The Enormous Crocodile or a other short stories. Lorelei read James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Danny Champion of the World several times on her own when she was six or seven. I won't let her read The Witches--I want to read it out loud to her, like my mom did! When I was telling her about Boy: Tales of Childhood, I love that she was annoyed with me: "Mom, why did you return it without giving it to me?!" 

Yup, this book is good enough to pass around from one generation to another. Enjoy chuckling at a childhood far more entertaining than my own!

The Adventures of Beekle The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat

The Adventures of Beekle The Unimaginary Friend by Dan Santat
Little, Brown, and Company

Rating: 5 stars

The Caldecott (and Newbery) awards were announced when we were on vacation back in early February. I checked my phone like crazy to see which books (and their authors and illustrators) won... I'm not the only one who does this, right?!

In case you are more laid-back in your approach to children's literature, I'll fill you in: Here's the winner. Right here. Beekle. And it was a shocker! No one saw it coming. The experts thought Draw! or The Farmer and the Clown or Bad Bye, Good Bye or Three Bears in a Boat. But Beekle? It was a surprise win.

But it's worthy for sure. It took me some months to get my hands on it, because I often think that Caldecott winners have gorgeous art, but their appeal to kids is limited, or the story is just so-so. This year, that's not the case.

Here, they lived and played,
eagerly waiting to be imagined by a real child.

Beekle is an imaginary friend (if you see the title, he and his human believe he's unimaginary, or real) who lives in the imaginary world where imaginary friends live before their humans imagine them and unite with them. While all the other monsters and funny-looking whatevers get beamed up and zipped over to the real world, Beekle remains.

Until he decides to do something about all the waiting and waiting. He "did the unimaginable" and sailed to the real world. (You'll love how dull and drab the real world is compared to the amazingly colorful and exciting unimaginary world. I love, and my kids love, how Beekle is confused why "no kids were eating cake"--just grown-ups. Ha!)

Beekle looks and looks for his friend and climbs up a beautiful big tree to get a better view, but...still can't find the friend. Suddenly, below, a girl starts waving at him. They found each other!

The girl and imaginary friend are two peas in a pod. They laugh at the same jokes no one else gets, they made each other feel confident and comfortable. The book ends with: "Together, they did the unimaginable."

He climbed to the top of the tree and looked out,
wishing and hoping his friend would come.

Isn't the unimaginable possible with the support of one really great friend? I think so.

At the very least, add "Must check out Beekle immediately" to your long end-of-the-year to do list. Or just buy it for your kids or for the next birthday your kid attends. You might end up tucking it away because you just can't part the sweet, bold Beekle.



P.S. This book is SO similar to another recently released book, Marilyn's Monster, that I can't get over it. (Marilyn and her monster also find each other in a tree!) This is such a fun example of how two people could have the same idea, pursue it, and get it published around the same time--it has happened more than once. But if you've read both please comment so I don't feel like I'm the only one on earth chuckling at the coincidence!