Category: Humor - READING STYLE GUIDE

Once Upon a Space-Time by Jeffrey Brown

6/2/2020

Once Upon a Space-Time! by Jeffrey Brown

This is not your normal Once Upon a Time. This is Once Upon a Space-Time. Jeffrey Brown takes readers on a journey into the final frontier.Two young recruits: Jide the science nerd and Petra the sci-fi fan are selected for a mission to Mars. Tobey the alien will be joining them along with several other aliens named Tobey. Not surprisingly Brown uses the classic Shakespearean line: Tobey or not Tobey.

It’s a space adventure jam-packed with silliness and word play, along with a dose of bathroom humor. When the kids put on their space suits for the first time, a dozen panels reveal close-ups of myriad items which must be pulled up, snugly fitted in place, layered on and snapped shut. Then Jide realizes that he needs to go to the bathroom. The procedure is reversed. Everything comes off. Following a quick trip to the bathroom, the entire suit goes back on again. That's when Commander Gusevich informs Jide that all suits have built-in diapers.

Brown sneaks informational tidbits into the mix including relativity, gravity, and space exploration. This is the first in this graphic novel series and sets up what will be an ongoing space odyssey. Great fun.

Crash landing on Mars: "Let's call it a safety challenged landing, okay?"

Comics Conquer Space

When science meets science fiction, comic book style. Follow the historic expedition to the moon with Rocket to the Moon. Meet the first women to explore space in Astronauts: Women on the Final Frontier. Then travel to an imaginary space station with Sanity and Tallulah. The wonder of space. The joy of comics.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher

Pub date: June 2, 2020 Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers ISBN: 978-0553534351

Dog Tale

5/28/2020

How I Trained My Dog in Ten Days
by Norma Lewis ill by Tim Tinn-Disbury

It seems particularly appropriate that How I Trained My Dog in Ten Days published on April 1, a day set aside for practical jokes. Meet the dog who plays the ultimate prank on his owner.

Lewis offers a lighthearted take on the joys of pet ownership. The story’s outcome, while predictable, is none-the-less charming as each page reveals yet another attempt by this youngster to train his dog Scamp. It’s a losing battle. Each day the dog inches beyond the boundaries his owner sets. This necessitates the owner constantly moving the goal post. From the garden to the dining room his pet defies the rules, claiming new territory. Ultimately the dog takes ownership of boy's video games, bathtub, and even the pillow on his bed.
Each page turn confirms young readers’ growing awareness that the dog is winning this power play.

The authoritative narrator confidently raises his hand while directing readers to be firm and establish clearly defined rules. However it’s Tinn-Disbury’s Scamp who steals the show. The cover image of dog with a smirk on his face and game controller dangling from his mouth makes it obvious who is in charge.

Be sure to view the back cover where Scamp licks his owner’s happy face with a slobbering tongue and a caption proclaims, “Best friends forever!”
Delightful addition to storytime, bedtime, or anytime.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: April 1, 2020 Publisher: Peter Pauper Press ISBN: 978-1441332646

Sweet with a Sprinkling of Salt

5/14/2020

Stand Up, Yumi Chung! by Jessica Kim

What does it mean to follow my heart, anyway?
What if pleasing my parents and wanting to do comedy are both pieces of my heart?

Hurrah! A middle grade book that is funny. And heartwarming and painfully honest. Bonus: It is served with a side of tasty Korean barbecue.

Meet Yumi Chung, eleven-year-old daughter of immigrant parents. Pressure. She constantly feels parental pressure to excel academically. It's particularly difficult because her older sister Yuri is the embodiment of the ideal Korean daughter: accelerated educational advancement and currently a medical school student.

Not Yumi. Earning high marks and academic accolades are not that important. What she really loves is stand-up comedy. This seems bizarre, as she is painfully self-conscious.

Mom has decided that Yumi will spend her summer with tutoring sessions in preparation for the SSAT, Secondary School Admission Test. Yumi grudgingly heads off for morning test prep sessions combined with three hours of afternoon study at the library.

Then something amazing happens.
She discovers a comedy club adjacent to the library. What luck! YouTube sensation Jasmine Jasper is facilitating a comedy camp. Right now. At the club. Yumi succumbs to temptation and steps inside. She is mistaken for a camp registrant who failed to show. Here’s Yumi’s chance to shine. Performing using another identity frees her from stage fright. She is a success!

Unfortunately, the family is dealing with several other issues. Her high-achieving medical student sister has decided to quit school and join the peace corps. The family restaurant is experiencing a significant financial downturn. Yumi wants to quit the prestigious and expensive private school favored by her parents and enroll in the new Performing Arts Magnet School.
Yumi's juggling act of working at the restaurant, attending morning test prep classes, maintaining the pretense of studying daily at the library, preparing a routine for an upcoming comedy club showcase, and assuming the identity of another workshop participant all comes crashing down. Big time.

My plans are teetering like Jenga bricks, and I'm going to get caught under the rubble...

Readers will sympathize with Yumi as she tries to unravel the mess that she has created, support the family's business, honor her parents’ wishes, and find a way to realize her dream. Everything doesn't work out perfectly. There are heartbreaking moments and several compromises. However... there are jokes!
Like Korean barbecue Stand Up, Yumi Chung! is sweet with a few salty tears but definitely savory. YUM! Kudos Jessica Kim.

Holy Hot Cheetos!
It's Yumi's Super-Secret Comedy Notebook

Yumi picked up a tip from her comedy idol Jasmine Jasper. She maintains a journal, recording her observations and reactions to events in her life. These entries could be the basis for possible jokes and comedy routines.
Readers will find several pages from Yumi’s notebook scattered throughout the first person narrative. Yumi accompanies her entries with personal emojis that express her current mood .

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: March 17, 2020 Publisher: Kokila ISBN: 978-0525554974

Bunch of Baloney

4/21/2020

Baloney and Friends by Greg Pizzoli

Come and see...the masterful...the magical...the one and only Baloney!

When times are tough, when days are dark, when "normal" is a fleeting memory, some may wonder if there is anything that will bring a bit of cheer to world weary souls. The answer is yes. Baloney and Friends is here to dispel some of life’s hopelessness.

This collection of graphic novel shorts begins with the introduction of four slightly zany cartoon characters. Readers meet Baloney, the pig and star of the book. He is joined by friends Peanut D. Horse, Biz E. Bee, and Krabbit a rabbit. Krabbit lives up to his name often responding with a sarcastic “whatever."

Readers are treated to a selection of stories interspersed with mini comics. Follow Baloney as he entertains his friends with tricks which may or may not be magical. The gentle humor continues as he struggles with fear of the unknown and feelings of sadness. Pizzoli has created a winsome collection of tales with precisely the right amount of snark.

Bright colors, a handy trim size of just over 6" x 8", an easy-to-read 96 pages, and limited word count make this an excellent choice for emergent readers. Bonus back matter provides step- by-step tutorials for drawing each of the book’s characters. Silliness, snappy dialogue, and a few bathroom jokes will delight young readers. It’s a bunch of baloney that kids will eat up.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: April 21, 2020 Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers ISBN: 978-1368054546

Long and Short of It

4/6/2020

Long Story Short: 100 Classic Books in Three Panels
by Lisa Brown

Literature is long. Comics are short.

Long ago, somewhere between the age when dinosaurs roamed the earth and the advent of Walkman cassettes, I discovered Richard Armour’s The Classics Reclassified. Armour's tongue-in-cheek synopsis of literary standards such as The Iliad, Julius Caesar, and Ivanhoe are awash with witty observations, puns, and a plentiful side of silliness. An example is this title and subtitle "The Scarlet Letter: An A for effort."
I enjoyed that slim volume and would carry it around, quoting it to anyone who would listen.

Long Story Short has gone one better. Actually, it's one hundred better with pithy summaries of classic literature ranging from Dante's The Inferno and Beowulf to contemporary classics such as Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings and Hinton's The Outsiders, a groundbreaking YA novel for young adults. Lisa Brown also skewers beloved children's books: Harriet the Spy, Charlotte's Web, and *gasp* Harry Potter.
Here's what stands out: Brown condenses the larger works into a comic format, with about three jaw-dropping panels for each title. Think newspaper comic strip/Cliffs Notes mash-ups. It's amazing.

The abridged comics are organized into thematic sections: "Big Thoughts," "Epic," "Female Trouble," "War is Hell," "(Un)Happy Families," "The Horror," "Jeepers! Creepers!" "Friends and Frenemies," "Love," "Sex," and "Death."
Back matter includes a one-page guide on How to Write Your Own Three-Panel Book, Index by Title and Index by Subject.

This is a book for those with a literary bent. Readers familiar with these titles will appreciate Brown's wit and her remarkable ability to distill a magnum opus into a few cleverly drawn panels. Well drawn. Well done.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: April 7, 2020 Publisher: Algonquin Books ISBN: 978-1616205034

Sip Slowly

12/16/2019

Straw by Amy Krouse Rosenthal ill by Scott Magoon

Not everything’s a race. Some things are meant to be savored.

First there was a Spoon, then Chopsticks, and now Straw joins the trio of picture books featuring eating implements. Amy Krause Rosenthal’s fertile imagination gives Straw a distinctive personality and character trait. That’s right. Straw is his name so a capital letter is in order.
Here’s the thing: Straw has a compulsion to be first. He measures his consumption in relationship to the nearby straws, constantly comparing himself to others. With help from friends, he learns to slow down and savor the moment.
The text is chock full is delightful word play. "I think what you're feeling is called awe, Straw." Gentle message. Charming characters. It's better than a thick milkshake with whipped cream and cherry on top.

Scott Magoon's illustrations capture the anxiety of wanting to be first. He injects whimsy into the narrative, giving the straws expressive faces and body posture. Who knew a paper drinking straw could be so dramatic?

Straw’s tubular shape is highlighted with imaginative page design and orientation, inviting readers to turn the book and look at things in a new way,

There are not-so-subtle homages to the author scattered throughout. A mug of AKR root beer, a glass of lemonade with a cheery sunshine logo, even her signature yellow umbrella makes an appearance.

Making Things

Amy Krouse Rosenthal liked to make things: books, films, salads, something out of nothing, and wishes. This list is paraphrased from the foundation website.

In this spirit of making, I tried making things with drinking straws. Armed with a handful of plastic straws and my trusty glue gun, I got to work. Here are the results: A cardboard box maze, ready for a marble race. Mini rockets that launch with a puff of air. A tiny easel that holds a name card. Try having a marble maze relay or a rocket launch competition. Finish with a milkshake. Sip slowly.

Eat Up

Sample these Amy Krouse Rosenthal picture books.

Copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: January 4, 2020 Publisher: Disney-Hyperion ISBN: 978-1484749555

Double Trouble

11/21/2019

The Fowl Twins by Eoin Colfer

"You two are not simply two boys," countered Sister Jeronima. ""You are two Fowl boys. There is a big difference."

It began in 2001. Eoin Colfer published a story about a twelve-year-old boy named Artemus Fowl, the world's greatest criminal mastermind.

Time has passed and in the intervening years Fowl has fathered fraternal twins Myles and Beckett. In many respects it is difficult to believe that the eleven-year-old boys are siblings. Myles is the epitome of an intellectual detail-oriented techno-geek. Beckett seems wildly random, bouncing around, delighting in life. He is also a trans-species polyglot, communicating with animals and fairies.

Despite or perhaps because of their differences, the brothers share an undying loyalty and affection for one another. They have learned to do more than tolerate the other's idiosyncrasies. They depend on one another to compliment the missing elements in their individual personalities.

"I used to do what you're doing, he said. "Live in the past. But now I know the past is past. When your plan failed, that was then. This is now, and we need a new plan. Say goodbye to old-failure Myles, and hello to new-plan Myles." Beckett

There's so much going on here:
Lord Teddy Bleedham-Drye, The Duke of Scilly, criminal mastermind extraordinaire will stop at nothing to obtain venom from a miniature-sized troll. The venom promises eternal life. He enlists the aid of a nun, Sister Jeronima Gonzalez-Ramos de Zárate of Bilbao who speaks English with a heavy dose of Spanish. and the Myishi Corporation to help him obtain the troll and gain everlasting life.
Unfortunately for him, Beckett happened upon the troll first, promptly naming him Whistle Blower.

In addition to The Fowl Twins and the tiny troll, ELF (Excellent Leprechaun Force) Specialist Lazuli Henitz, a pixie-elf hybrid or pixel (Myles mistakenly describes Lazuli as semiprecious) joins this team. They call themselves the Regrettables. Their mission is to thwart the Duke's nefarious schemes.

It's clear that this is just the beginning. There will be further exploits for the Brothers Fowl.

Colfer is at the top of his game. Wordplay is omnipresent, punctuated with razor-sharp repartee. There's Beckett's famous cluster punch and Myles' expertise with anarchitecture, the architecture of anarchy. There are quotes from Kipling, Nietzsche, and Shakespeare. Albeit the words may be slightly inverted, resulting an entirely different meaning.

Colfer intensifies the story's frantic pace, adding one cliff-hanger on top of another. Presumed deaths, Bathtubs filled with electric eels. Gysers spouting bodies into the air. Individuals pushed off cliffs. It's campy, over-the-top non-stop action and adventure. Take your vitamins, sharpen your wits, and get ready for one wild read.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: November 5, 2019 Publisher ISBN: Disney-Hyperion 978-1368043755

Mysterious Doings

10/15/2019

The Upper Case: Trouble in Capital City
by Tara Lazar ill by Ross MacDonald

Following up on her hit picture book 7 Ate 9: The Untold Story Tara Lazar brings readers another clever take on our alphabet system, specifically capitalized letters.

Readers are treated to a noir style whodunit. Private I is informed by Question Mark that the capital letters are missing. ALL of them. Our intrepid detective is on the case.

This was serious. If all the capital letters were gone, there’d be incomplete sentences dangling everywhere.

The super sleuth begins to search for clues, hoping to enlist the assistance of punctuation marks. They are busy. Hyphens dashes around, apostrophe gathers personal possessions, while ampersand minds her p's and q's. Lazar is a master of the well-placed pun.
Eventually Private I returns to waitress little b at Café Uno. Together they locate the missing letters and rescue them from a theater marque. "I'd always wanted to see my name in lights."
Tranquility is restored. Or is it? The final page suggests that there will be more mysteries for Private I.

MacDonald's illustrations add to the frivolity. Letters fade away. Distinctive expressions animate the punctuation and letter faces. Observant readers will find Easter Eggs scattered throughout the book. Hints: Look for the train with conjunction cars attached behind the engine and find Exclamation reading a copy of 7Ate 9. Final tip: keep an eye on the mouse.

The Upper Case: Trouble in Capital City is a read aloud delight. Who knew that grammar and punctuation could be so much fun?

Upper Case Antics

The Upper Case trailer

Alphabuild magnetic blocks

Bake alphabet cookies

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: October 15, 2019 Publisher: Disney-Hyperion ISBN: 978-1368027656

To the Rescue

4/9/2019

Good Dog, McTavish by Meg Rosoff ill by Grace Easton

McTavish's decision to adopt the Peachey family was not the most sensible decision of his life.

Books that are a delight for adults and young children to read together are a rare breed. Meg Rosoff has pulled off this feat with Good Dog, McTavish, a story brimming with wit and charm.

Rosoff turns the familiar rescue dog trope on its head. McTavish is indeed a dog. But his task is to rescue a family. When he decides to adopt the Peachey family, he knows that this going to take time and a great deal of work.

Ma Peachey has announced that she is giving up on being a mother. No more cleaning. No more cooking. No more nagging. Pa Peachey and the three Peachey children are on their own. Needless to say, the entire household is in a state of chaotic disarray.

McTavish and eight-year old Betty devise a plan, actually several plans, to restore order to the home.

Humans were puzzlingly dim. McTavish sighed. There was so much work to do.

Youngsters will chortle as McTavish puts his plans into action. Beginning with the piles of discarded clothing and shoes scattered throughout the house, McTavish systematically trains the family to clean up, pick up, be punctual, and feed themselves.

The ongoing efforts of the father and his children are interspersed with descriptions of Ma Peachey, intoning "ohhhmmm" while executing near-perfect looping cobra and dancing warrior yoga poses.

When the family takes ownership of the home and contribute to its order, Ma quietly rejoins the family.

Humans make excellent pets, he thought. When you took on a rescue family, it often took some weeks for them to settle, but he was glad he'd decided to adopt the Peacheys.

Meet the Author

Meg Rosoff is the author of Guardian Children's Prize and Michael L. Printz award-winning How I Live Now and National Honor Book finalist recognition for Picture Me Gone. She also received the 2016 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award. With Good Dog, McTavish, readers can enjoy another side of Rosoff. Her sparkling writing with clever asides is tailor-made for entertaining family reading. Enjoy this brief interview with the author.

Meet the Illustrator

Grace Easton's illustrations add a fine touch of whimsy. Love the details. Of special note is McTavish's eye roll. It speaks volumes.

Easton's portfolio is a visual delight. I could spend hours perusing her plush collection with inventive packaging and children's clothing tie-ins.

Uncorrected copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: April 9, 2019 Publisher: Candlewick ISBN: 978-1536200584

All in the Family

4/5/2019

My Cat Looks Like My Dad by Thao Lam

Family is what you make it.

Meet dad. Meet the family cat. Dad and cat are alike in many ways. Both have fluffy yellow hair, enjoy a tasty meal followed by a nap, even have similar fears. They make a great pair.
But that’s just the beginning.
The real story on these pages goes beyond a charming tale of a man and his cat. Readers wonder about the family member narrating the story. Who can it be?

The storyteller's identity is discovered by carefully examining the illustrations. Observant readers will recognize that there is more to this family than a man and his cat.
There will come an "ah ha" moment when it is obvious that the narrator i.e. additional family member is a bird! That's right. The bird refers to its sibling as "my cat." Clever. Clever indeed.

The complete family portrait with dad, mom, cat, and bird graces the final page.

Thao Lam's cut paper collages are a delight. The title page, featuring a strip of photobooth headshots of feline and human playing around with spectacles is a great introduction to the characters. Her illustrations poke fun at quintessential stereotypes such as discarded socks on the floor and milk mustaches. The cat's facial expressions are priceless!

Greeting the day with graceful tai chi.

Crooning tunes at the keyboard.

Snoozing: Nap time is lap time.

My Cat Looks Like My Dad offers the subtle message that families come in all shapes and sizes and can consist on a variety of members. Readers will also need to put aside the assumptions that only certain individuals, or species, can cohabit peacefully.

Bonus

Meet Thao Lam and learn about the inspiration for this book. View her creation process.

Share the book and video with students. An interesting extension activity would be to provide kids with a selection of patterned papers and other art materials. Then invite them to create a portrait collage of their own family.

Electronic copy provided by publisher.

Pub date: April 15, 2019 Publisher: Owlkids ISBN: 978-1771473514