The Best Bad Thing 

The Best Bad Thing

The Best Bad Thing
By Yoshiko Uchida

This book tells the story of Rinko, a Japanese American girl growing up in California during the 1930’s. The story begins with Rinko reluctantly having to spend the last month of her summer vacation helping out a recently widowed (and rumored to be crazy) Mrs. Hata and her two boys (Zenny and Abu) on their cucumber farm. While she is there many bad things happen: Rinko sprains her ankle; Abu is hospitalized with his arm; Mrs. Hata’s truck is stolen and loses her source of income; and the welfare department threatens to make Mrs. Hata move to the city. By the end of the summer everything works out and Rinko grows very close to Mrs. Hata and her family and decides that spending her last month of summer vacation was the “best bad thing” of all.

I liked this book because it gave a realistic view of what life was like in California for Japanese American immigrants during the 1930’s. My positive reaction to this book was influenced by the fact that I like reading historical fiction about immigrants who come to America to make a new and better life for themselves, especially when there is a happy ending as in this book. Yoshiko Uchida’s books are typically realistic depictions of early Japanese American immigrant life in the United States. I am looking forward to reading another book of hers: The Bracelet. This book is about the Japanese American internment camp during WWII, an actual event in Yoshiko’s life.

I have learned from reading this book that telling a story from the view point of a child is a very moving, effective, and memorable way of learning about the history, culture, traditions, hopes, and values of the early immigrants.

The Boy Who Swallowed Snakes 

The Boy Who Swallowed Snakes

The Boy Who Swallowed Snakes
By Laurence Yep
Illustrated by Jean and Mou-Sien Tseng

This book is a Chinese folktale about a brave, honest, poor boy named Little Chou who witnesses a rich stranger leaving a basket full of silver coins in the forest. Little Chou tries to return the treasure by calling after the stranger, but the stranger evades his efforts. He drags the basket of treasure home for his widowed mother to see. The silver coins were hiding a poisonous magical glowing ku snake that attaches itself to Little Chou. The magical snake “kills people, steals their treasure and brings the wealth back to its owner.” Despite their many attempts, the snake could not be destroyed. So in a brave effort to prevent the snake from killing other people, Little Chou swallows the snake. Swallowing the poisonous snake does not kill Little Chou, but does result in two glowing ku snakes springing from his stomach that evening. He retaliates by eating the two new snakes. This same cycle repeats itself every night with the number of snakes increasing each time. The rich stranger hears about his ku snake multiplying itself to one thousand snakes and decides that he needs his snake back to steal the treasure of a thousand people at one time to be wealthier than anyone. When he reclaims his snake, it returns to just one. Little Chou tells him the secret of multiplying the snake and the rich stranger eats the snake. But since the rich man’s heart was greedy instead of pure like Little Chou’s, he dies. Little Chou and his mother use the basket of silver that the rich man gave them to invest in their land and become wealthy on their own.

I had a hard time following the storyline in this book. The story was awkwardly worded and I had to read it over many times to follow the plot. More details needed to be given about the magic of the snake. I could not imagine how a snake could “kill someone, steal their treasure and bring it back to its owner.” The pictures were very detailed and colorful watercolor paintings and added much to the story. I especially liked how on the last page Little Chou and his family were watching fireworks that reminded them of the night one thousand glowing ku snakes sprung from Little Chou’s stomach and danced in the sky.

Most of Laurence Yep’s books are chapter books that give insight to culture alienation and racial conflict (Dragonwings) and/or retells old Chinese folktales (The Ghost Fox). This book was very different, it was a children’s picture book of an original folktale.

I learned from reading this book that even if the storyline isn’t exactly well thought out, wonderful illustrations can make it worth the effort of reading it.

The Talking Eggs 

The Talking Eggs

The Talking Eggs
By Robert D. San Souci
Pictures by Jerry Pinkney
Book illustrated by Jerry Pinkney category

This book retells the Creole folktale of two sisters: one good and one bad. The bad sister (Rose) is just like her mother, mean and lazy. The good sister (Blanche) is the opposite, kind and hard working. Both of them meet an old woman (separately) who possesses many magical items such as talking eggs. Blanche is rewarded with many wonderful treasures from inside the eggs given to her by the old woman since she obeys her. Rose gets a more deserving treasure from inside her eggs - snakes and wild animals for being greedy, rude and not following directions.

I liked this book not only because it is a great story with colorful detailed illustrations, but because it also teaches the lesson that goodness will be rewarded and badness will be punished.

My positive reaction to this book is probably due to the fact that it is very similar to other stories that I have heard when I was young such as “Two Gals” (a story told to me by my Appalachian grandparents) and Cinderella. Both of these stories have good and bad characters that get what they deserve in the end.

Jerry Pinkney’s illustrations in this book are almost identical to the ones that he did in John Henry. The very detailed, colorful, watercolor like pictures adds greatly to the overall enjoyment of the book. Every time I look through this book I see some detail in the illustrations that I missed before.

The new thing that I learned about children’s literature after reading this book and John Henry was that sometimes the illustrations can be the one thing that makes an old story seem new again.

John Henry 

John Henry

John Henry
By Julius Lester
Pictures by Jerry Pinkney
Book by Julius Lester category

This book retells the legend of John Henry, an African American man with the strength of ten men who challenges a steam powered drill to see who can dig through a mountain the fastest. He wins, but dies because of the stress of the competition on his heart.

I can remember my father telling me the story of John Henry as a child. The illustrator captured the detailed pictures of my imagination as a child. The rhythm, dialect and touches of modern day references of the text would make it a great read aloud book.

This book is similar to another book written by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney: Tales of Uncle Remus: The Adventures of Brer Rabbit. Julius Lester again retells African American stories using the same format as he did in John Henry.

I learned from reading this book that important concept’s in life can be told in the form of children’s stories and have a lasting effect on whoever (adult or child) reads them. If only everyone in the world could live by Julius Lester’s most memorable line from this book,
“Dying ain’t important. Everybody does that. What matters is how well you do your living.”

The Cat in the Hat 

The Lorax 

The Sneetches 

Dr. Seuss books

The Cat in the Hat, The Lorax and The Sneetches
All by Dr. Seuss

The Cat in the Hat is a story about two bored kids home alone with nothing to do on a rainy day, until they get an unexpected visitor. This visitor (the Cat) is never actually invited to play with the children, but is never actually uninvited either. The only voice of reason is that of the children’s talking fish, which they never listen to. All of the Cat’s play results in a very messy house, with their mother on her way home. In the end, the Cat cleans up the entire mess only moments before their mother walks through the door.

I remember reading this book as a child and I enjoyed it just as much now as I did then. What I liked about this book is the rhyming of the words and that it is a book for a beginner reader that is also very interesting to read. All of Dr. Seuss’s “Beginner Books” can be described in the same way. I especially enjoy the talking fish; he is the voice of reason. I can really identify with him; I never enjoy doing fun things that are messy because I realize that I will probably be the one cleaning up the mess.

I didn’t realize that this book was commissioned by Houghton-Mifflin in 1957 as an alternative to the Dick and Jane basal readers. I went to grade school in the early seventies and my school system still used the basal readers. Luckily, my mother enrolled me in a Dr. Seuss book club and I got to enjoy all of the Dr. Seuss “Beginner Books” before I started first grade.

The Lorax is a story about what happens when you take from the earth and cut down trees without replanting for the sake of profit. This book is didactic; it conveys a message as well as entertains its readers. Dr. Seuss considered this to be his best book, but my favorite is The Sneetches. In The Sneetches, Dr. Seuss shows us that silly prejudice can have a heavy price tag. My daughter and I liked this book so much that one year we dressed up like sneetches for Halloween.

The Polar Express 

The Polar Express

The Polar Express
Written and Illustrated by Chris Van Allsburg
(A children’s book that has been produced as a feature film)

This book is a wonderful story about believing in Santa. The story is the recounting of an adventure that the storyteller had as a boy. It begins on Christmas Eve with a magical train ride aboard the Polar Express to the North Pole. The storyteller is chosen from all of the children that were aboard the train to receive the first Christmas gift. He asks Santa for one silver bell from his sleigh. He puts the bell is his pocket, but unknowingly loses it (through the hole in his pocket) before he gets back on the train. The bell is returned as a gift under the tree from S.C. on Christmas morning. Only he and his little sister can hear the bell ring since they believe in Santa (unlike their parents). The book ends with the now elderly author still able to hear the bell ring since he is still a true believer in Santa.

I really enjoyed this book. It was a simple but unforgettable story with wonderful illustrations. The lighting in a majority of the illustrations seems to come from the moon, but is never shown. I can see this book being used as part of a family tradition to read on Christmas Eve with hot chocolate and ending with the ringing of a silver sleigh bell, to see who still believes.

My family has a tradition of reading ‘Twas the Night before Christmas on Christmas Eve. I think this book should be introduced as the new family tradition as children get older (3rd or 4th grade) and their friends start filling their heads with doubt about the existence of Santa. I believe that this book would help to revive their belief in the spirit of Christmas.

As soon as I looked at the illustrations of this book, I knew that they were by the same illustrator that did Jumanji. The illustrations in both books resemble pictures of sculptures (they look almost 3-dimensional).

I learned from reading this book that a new spin can be put on stories about believing in Santa. This story is so simple and is still appealing to both children and adults. I haven’t seen the movie yet. It is scheduled to be released on DVD in November of 2005. I am very interested to see how they made a one hundred minute long movie out of a book that took just ten minutes to read.

Because of Winn-Dixie 

Because of Winn-Dixie

Because of Winn-Dixie
By Kate DiCamillo
(A children’s book that has been produced as a feature film)

Because of Winn-Dixie is a story about a girl named India Opal Buloni who was abandoned by her mother at a young age and moves, with her preacher father, to a new home in Florida. She makes friends with a mangy strange mutt who ends up changing her life. The book starts out in a Winn-Dixie grocery store with the manager threatening to send a stray dog to the pound. Opal jumps to his aid and says that the dog is hers; he even comes when she calls him by the first thing that pops in her head (Winn-Dixie). Opal successfully rescues the dog, but the dog ends up rescuing her by helping her fit into her new life by helping her find and make new friends.

I absolutely loved this book! When I read it, I cried. It was so moving and touching. I was especially moved by how the main character (India Opal Buloni) was able to get up the courage to ask her father about her mother because of the dog. She voiced her questions through him.
“I’ve been talking to him (Winn-Dixie) and he agreed with me that, since I’m ten years old, you should tell me ten things about my mama. Just ten things, that’s all.” (page 24 – 25)
I haven’t seen the movie yet. I hope that I won’t be disappointed with the movie version. It is scheduled to be released on DVD in August of this year.

My emotional reaction to this book is due to my experiences with a little girl that lived down the street from us many years ago. She was very quiet and always carried around an old homemade wore out rag doll (you could tell that she really loved it). She would never really tell you what she wanted or how she was feeling, but she used the doll, the same way Opal used Winn-Dixie, to convey her feelings.

In my opinion, this book is much better than the only other book of Kate DiCamillo’s that I have read - The Tale of Despereaux. I prefer reading realistic fiction to fantasy. The author gives her characters the most interesting names in both books.

I learned that realistic children’s fiction can be very moving when told from the view point of a child who finds her voice through her dog.

Holes 

Holes

Holes
By Louis Sachar
(A children’s book that has been produced as a feature film)

This novel is a humorous tale about a boy named Stanley Yelnats (palindrome intended) and his family both past and present. Stanley is falsely accused and convicted of stealing and is sent off to a detention facility named Camp Green Lake (which is actually a dried up lake bed that resembles a desert) to do his time. Stanley’s family has had a run of bad luck for the past five generations due to a curse put on Stanley’s great-great-grandfather by a Madame Zeroni. At the camp, Stanley has to dig one hole everyday that measures five feet in every direction. They are supposedly digging holes to build character, but actually they are looking for buried treasure for the warden. At the camp, a fellow inmate and new found friend of Stanley’s, Hector Zeroni escapes into the desert without food or water. Stanley rescues him and nurses him back to health and unintentionally breaks the family curse (since Hector Zeroni is Madame Zeroni’s great-great-grandson). Now, with the curse broken, the Yelnat's luck is turned around and Stanley and Hector find the buried treasure at Camp Green Lake and Stanley’s conviction is overturned.

One of the things that I liked about this book was the way that it jumped back and forth from the present to the past and back again. It is so unique because it told two different stories at once: one about Stanley’s family and one about Camp Green Lake and his family’s connection to it. Another thing that I liked was how every detail (although at first seemingly unconnected) of the two stories fit together seamlessly. At first, the jumping back and forth of the two stories is hard to follow, but once you understand what the author is doing, you realize that the stories are all connected and you need to pay close attention to every detail.

My positive reaction to this book was influenced by my children. We all listened to it on audiotape and even though we are all different ages (9, 14, and 41) we all thought it was the best book that we had ever listened to. We were also pleasantly surprised at how closely the movie followed the book. Normally, movies based on books do not live up to our expectations.

I have read excerpts of Louis Sachar’s Sideways Stories from Wayside School to my students during library classes and it was always a big hit. Louis Sachar’s use of humor and wit in Holes is much better and I can see why he won the Newbery Award in 1999.

I learned from this book that characters in children’s literature can be portrayed as nice thoughtful ordinary everyday kids that are just down on their luck as well as give hope to others that if they just don’t give up, good things can happen in their lives.

Caldecott vs. Newbery

Describe the difference between Caldecott and Newbery Awards. Is one a better award than another?

The Caldecott Award was named in honor of Randolph Caldecott, a nineteenth-century English illustrator. It is awarded annually to the artist (a citizen of the United States) of the most distinguished picture book for children (published in English in the United States during the preceding year) by the Association for Library Service to Children.

The Newbery Award was named in honor of John Newbery, an eighteenth-century British bookseller. It is awarded annually to the author (a citizen of the United States) of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children (published in English in the United States during the preceding year) by the Association for Library Service to Children.

Basically, the only difference is that the Caldecott Award is for an artist and the Newbery Award is for an author. They are both distinguished awards. One is not better than the other because the intent of each award is different.

i see the rhythm 

i see the rhythm

i see the rhythm
Paintings by Michele Wood
Text by Toyomi Igus
Corretta Scott King Illustrator Award 1999

This book depicts the history of African American music from the 1500s to the 1990s through paintings, a timeline, and poetry. This book uses vibrant illustrations in conjunction with both poetic and song verse text to show the timeline of African American musical history - starting with its origins in Africa, and continuing chronologically with slave songs, blues, ragtime, jazz, swing, bebop, cool jazz, gospel, rhythm and blues/soul, black rock, funk, and ending with rap/hip hop.

I really enjoyed reading this book for many reasons. I especially enjoyed how the author combined a timeline of notable events of both African American history such as when activist Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white man and African American music history such as the creation of the gospel music concert circuit. The paintings were very vivid and detailed and the words (including not only what they had to say but how they were placed on the page) paralleled the artists meaning behind her work. Each page starts out with the words, “I see the rhythm of …” that reflect exactly the same rhythm the accompanying picture shows. For example, on the pages that depict the rhythm of gospel, the words (I see the rhythm of gospel) mimic the arched shape of the stain glass window that Michele Wood paints to represent gospel music.

My positive response to this book is due to the fact that even though I am aware of a lot of different types of music, I have never studied the history behind it. This book was very enlightening to me.

This is Michele Wood and Toyomi Igus second collaboration. Their first book was Going Back Home. The illustrations for both books are similar, but the text is not. In Going Back Home, the author is telling the story of the painter returning to her family’s roots of the South. They are both historical books, but in i see the rhythm the history is tied to national events and dates.

I learned from reading this book that children’s literature can depict history accurately and with emotion through powerful illustrations.

The Tale of Despereaux 

The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux: Being the Story of a Mouse, a Princess, Some Soup, and a Spool of Thread
By Kate DiCamillo
Illustrated by Timothy B. Ering
Newbery Medal 2004

This book unravels the tales of three very different but intriguing characters who all have the Princess Pea in common. First is the story of Despereaux, a small talking mouse with a big heart who can read and falls in love with Princess Pea. Second is the story of Chiaroscuro, a calculating talking rat who loves light and wants revenge taken out on Princess Pea. And lastly Miggery Sow, a servant girl who wants to be Princess Pea.

Despereaux is banished to the dungeon for professing his love for the human princess. Chiaroscuro is a rat who seeks the light of day away from the dungeon. The one day that he finally escaped to the lighted world, he scared the queen to death (literally) and is banished from the lighted world he loves and blames the princess for his misfortune. Miggery Sow, a girl the same age as the princess and who has lost her mother like the princess, was sold into slavery by her own father and yet dreams of being a princess like Pea one day. Each of their individual stories are separate (actually separate books within the book) and yet are intertwined and combined into the last section of the book with a very happy fairy tale like ending.

I liked this book because it took three very different and complicated character’s stories and told them to a point and then intertwined them, showing how they all related to one another in the last section of the book. Kate DiCamillo told a very complicated combination of stories in a very simplistic way so that even small children could follow and understand.

My reaction to this book was greatly influenced by the fact that I am an elementary librarian and I am always looking for children’s books that are interesting, can be read aloud and increase their vocabulary. This book does all three. First, the way the story is told (as three stories that combine into one) is unique and would keep my students guessing about the ending. Second, the narrator of the story is constantly addressing the reader directly, making for a great read aloud book. And third, many difficult words such as chiaroscuro or adieu are used and defined.

This book is similar to Kate DiCamillo’s Because of Winn Dixie in that she tells a detailed touching story with a happy ending that children can understand.

I learned from reading this book that an author can increase a reader’s vocabulary directly. This author did not try to hide the fact that she was defining words and increasing your knowledge. This may seem haughty to an older person, but is wonderful for the age group that I work with (4th and 5th grade.) I will definitely use this book with my students next school year.

Joey Pigza Loses Control 

Joey Pigza Loses Control

Joey Pigza Loses Control
By Jack Gantos
Newbery Honor book 2001

This book is about a boy named Joey Pigza who wears a medicine patch to help him stay focused and in control. Joey goes to spend the summer with his estranged dad (Carter Pigza) and find outs that his dad is hyper just like he use to be before he got his patch. Carter wears a patch to help curb his nicotine cravings, but he also has the extra bonus of being an alcoholic in denial. Joey’s father is messed up and out-of-control more than Joey initially realizes. Carter decides to liberate the both of them by flushing their medicine patches down the toilet so that they can be normal and in control of their own lives. That one action is the beginning of both their undoing and the rest of the book.

What I liked about this book was that it gives a realistic picture of what kids go through with ADHD. There are many students at my school on medication for ADHD, they could really identify with the main character. This book could help them deal with their real life problems.

The only thing that I didn’t like about this book was that this book, which was the second in the series, did not really spell out specifically that Joey’s medical problem was ADHD. There are three books (Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key, Joey Pigza Loses Control, and What Would Joey Do?) in this series and they should be read in order.

I didn’t realize until I read this book that a story about a very serious real situation that many children I know could identify with could also be told so humorously. Jack Gantos truly has a gift. It makes me wonder if he was ever diagnosed with ADHD.

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra 

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra

Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra
Written by Andrea Davis Pinkney
Illustrated by Brian Pinkney
Caldecott Honor Book 1999

This book is a children’s picture book biography about Duke Ellington and his orchestra.

My son (age 9) and I attempted to read this book together. He had a hard time following what the author was trying to say and the different musical pictures the author was trying to paint using words from the jazz era (like “sassy cool tones”). He was not familiar with any of the terms. The alternative I found to help him understand the book was United Streaming. United Streaming is a digital video on demand service. United Streaming had taken this book and set it to music. The same story and the detailed scratchboard illustrations were used, but music (most of it Duke Ellington’s actual music) that matched the text was added such as “left-handed hops and right-handed slides.” It made the book absolutely unforgettable. This book accompanied with the United Streaming video will be a great way to introduce Duke Ellington and his orchestra and jazz music to my 4th and 5th grade library patrons. My positive reaction to this book was influenced by the fact that I play the piano and love listening to as well as playing jazz music.

This same author and illustrator (husband and wife) collaborated on other similar African-American biography books that include the following: Dear Benjamin Banneker, Ella Fitzgerald : The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa, and Bill Pickett: Rodeo-Ridin' Cowboy. Each one is written with the language of the time period interwoven in the text and beautiful detailed illustrations.

This book proves that biographies can be written as interesting children’s picture books.

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers 

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers

The Man Who Walked Between the Towers
Mordicai Gerstein
Caldecott Medal Winner 2004

This book is a true account of Philippe Petit’s tightrope walk on a hire wire between the World Trade Center Towers in New York on August 7, 1974.

There are many reasons why I liked this book: it’s a true story about French aerialist Philippe Petit; it has wonderful illustrations that give the reader breathtaking views of what the aerialist sees from a high wire stretched between the twin towers; and it effectively mentions the now nonexistence of the twin towers.

My reaction to this book was greatly influenced by both my own child and my 4th and 5th grade library patrons. Even though my own son and my library patrons were six and seven years old when the destruction of the twin towers occurred, a majority of them saw the replays on television and still remember it and ask to check out books about it. This book is a much better alternative to the ones in my current collection - terrorist books with graphic pictures of the twin tower's destruction.

Mordicai Gerstein’s illustrations for this book are similar to ones in his other books: Sparrow Jack and The Wild Boy.

The one new thing I learned from this book is that children’s literature does not have to be confined to just the usual style of a book. This author used foldout pages to extend his illustrations and to give awe-inspiring majestic pictures of the views seen from both looking down from the wire and looking up from the ground.

So You Want to be President? 

So You Want to be President?

So You Want to be President?
Written by Judith St. George
Illustrated by David Small
Caldecott Medal Winner 2001

In this book the author points out both the good things about being president (such as living in a big white house and not having to eat yucky vegetable such as broccoli (George Bush)) and the bad (lots of homework and always having to be dressed up). The author also presents facts (mostly obscure ones) about the past presidents of the United States to prove the point that anyone can be president.

When my son and I read this book together, he looked at me and said, “I guess that I could be president someday too. Most all of these guys seem like everyday people - they were not perfect at all.” We both enjoyed it immensely.

This same author and illustrator have teamed up before to create two similar books: So You Want to be an Inventor and So You Want to be an Explorer.

I have learned from reading this book that an abundance of facts can be presented in a comical caricatured format and make for interesting reading for both children and adults. This book also made me want to find out more details, specifically the name of the female reporter that sat on John Quincy Adams clothes (while he was skinny dipping) until he gave her an interview. It was Anne Royall; she was definitely way ahead of her time!

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly 

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly

There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly
By Simms Taback
Caldecott Honor book 1998

In this cumulative tale, an old lady swallows a fly and then proceeds to swallow a spider to catch the fly, but then she needs to swallow a bird to catch the spider and so one, until she finally dies when she swallows a horse to catch the cow.

This author chose a very creative way to help the reader visualize each of the living creatures that the old lady swallowed; holes cut strategically into the pages so that the reader can actually see them in her stomach. As a child, I can remember this cumulative American folk tale being sung to me and demonstrated using a puppet of an old lady and letting me stuff the different things she ate into her mouth. The colorful illustrations along with the cut holes make the story just as memorable as with the puppet.

Simms Taback’s artistic abilities are very apparent in this book and are very similar to other books that he has illustrated such as This is the Little House that Jack Built and Joseph had a Little Overcoat. The book does not only tell the story, but lots of other humorous or informational details are sprinkled throughout the book. For example, the flies on the back cover of the book are all accurately draw and identified and there are humorous newspaper headlines such as “Lady Wolfs Down Dog” throughout the book.

One thing new that I learned (from our textbook) about this book is that it because of the cut outs; it can be described as a toy, engineered, or mechanical book.

The Paperboy 

The Paperboy

The Paperboy
Story and Paintings by Dav Pilkey
Caldecott Honor book 1997

The author realistically and accurately depicts the Saturday routine of a very responsible paperboy and his faithful partner (his dog). The painted illustrations are wonderful, specifically the changes in the color palette of the sky from night to morning as the paperboy is performing his Saturday routine of delivering the morning paper. The sky in the illustration on the pages where the author states “all the world is asleep except for the paperboy and his dog” somewhat resembles the famous painting The Starry Night by Vincent Van Gogh.

This book reminds me of a time in my life when I wanted a paper route of my own. We lived in the rural part of the county and paper routes were only given to kids who lived in town where the houses were close together. This book captured the calming solitude and feeling of accomplishment that I always imagined that such a job would evoke.

I was surprised to discover the author of this book is the same Dav Pilkey that writes the Captain UnderPants books. Although both appeal to kids, the latter does so through humorous cartoons.

Dav Pilkey, with his beautiful colorful illustrations takes an ordinary routine and turns it into an unforgettable story.