humor

Review: Bang by Leo Timmers

| Tasha

bang

Bang by Leo Timmers

Using only the word “bang” throughout, this nearly-wordless picture book is a humor-filled delight.  In a series of car crashes, one after another, the story is told.  It all starts with a deer who isn’t paying any attention, since he’s reading this book while driving.  Then comes the truck full of chickens driven by a pig.  Then a fashionable giraffe in an orange sportster.  A hungry alligator with a truck full of tires follows.  And more and more.  After each car enters the page, there is an enormous bang, and then each new car impacts all of the others in new ways.  Colors change, items move from one vehicle to another, and merry chaos reigns. 

Timmers fills his wordless book with wonderful details that make lingering on the pages a must.  You even start guessing from the introduction of the new elements about what will happen to the other vehicles in line.  The final fold-out page with all of the vehicles in a row is great fun to look at and makes for a grand finale.

Timmers’ art is quirky and bright.  The vehicles are all completely unique, formatted to fit the bulk of a pig, or the height of a giraffe.  The pages are filled with bright colors and lots of action.  As each new vehicle comes onto the page, there is wonderful moment before you know what happens.  This pacing is perfection and all thanks to the art.

Jolly and very funny, this is a picture book that children who enjoy vehicles or large crashes will adore.  Appropriate for ages 2-4.

Reviewed from copy received from Gecko Press.

2013 Roald Dahl Funny Prize Winners

| Tasha

Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2013

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize is a British children’s book prize that “aims to promote laughter and humour as a feel-good factor when reading, to draw attention to funny books as readable and enjoyable books and to reward authors and illustrators who write and illustrate books using humour.”  There are two age categories to the award.  Here are the winners:

AGES SIX AND UNDER

Monkey Nut

Monkey Nut by Simon Rickerty

AGES SEVEN TO FOURTEEN

I Am Still Not a Loser. Barry Loser, Spellchecked [I.E. Written] by Jim Smith

I Am Still Not a Loser by Jim Smith

God Got a Dog by Cynthia Rylant

| Tasha

god got a dog

God Got a Dog by Cynthia Rylant, illustrated by Marla Frazee

Taken from Rylant’s previous book of poetry, God Went to Beauty School, this smaller collection is completely disarming and dazzling.  Repackaged for a younger audience, this book celebrates God in a wonderfully homely and down-to-earth way that manages at the same time to make Him/Her all the more wondrous.  In a series of poems, God goes to beauty school because he loves hands so much.  She goes for a ride in a boat for the first time and gets an entirely new perspective on water.  He goes to the doctor.  She tries out a desk job for awhile.  He visits India.  She writes a book.  They are small moments, small things to do, but in the end they are all profound and beautiful.

As someone who is trying to slow down and enjoy the small things in life, this book truly speaks to me.  It is about God himself doing exactly the same thing.  Rylant injects each of the poems with a lovely quiet humor and a softness that enriches each moment.  Her poems are completely relatable, understandable by elementary children but also deep enough to be appreciated by adults.

Frazee was the ideal person to illustrate this book.  With her soft colors and natural humor, Frazee captures these moments in God’s day.  Each is beautifully set up, but also simple and honest.  They are singular but also create a lovely whole.

Smart, funny and above all kind and radiant, this book will make a great holiday gift for all ages as well as a wonderful way to start talking about spirituality.  Appropriate for all ages.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

| Tasha

better nate than ever

Better Nate Than Ever by Tim Federle

Nate lives in Jankburg, Pennsylvania probably as far from Broadway that you can get.  But Broadway is where he dreams of being.  So when an opportunity to go to an open audition for E.T.: the Musical comes around, he and his best friend figure out how to get him to New York City without anyone knowing.  It involves taking an overnight bus from Pennsylvania, taking his mother’s ATM card, and fooling his older brother.  Then when he reaches New York City, he has to figure out how to get to the auditions all on his own.  There’s a lot that can go wrong in a plan like that, but Broadway and being a star is worth the risk! 

Federle has created a tremendously cheery book that is filled with humor and a wonderful light-heartedness.  Nate is a character that will speak to many kids who are interested in theater.  He describes himself as “undecided” about his sexuality which makes this a very friendly book for middle schoolers who are either questioning their own sexuality or gay.   Nate has a wonderful inner voice that he doesn’t allow to speak aloud.  His funniest moments are things that he says to himself about circumstances and other people. 

While the book remains consistently positive, Federle does also deal with deeper issues like bullying, being the kid at school who doesn’t fit in, alcoholism, and broken families.  All of these issues are dealt with seriously and yet at the same time aren’t allowed to make the book dark in any way. 

There is humor and hope everywhere in this book.  It is a delight of a middle school read.

Reviewed from library copy.

Roald Dahl Funny Prize 2013 Shortlist

| Tasha

 

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize was launched in 2008, so this is the sixth year the prize has been awarded.  The award goes to authors and illustrators who use humor in books for children.  The prize has two categories based on age.  You can see the shortlist below for each category:

 

Ages Six and Under

Do Not Enter The Monster Zoo Monkey Nut Noisy Bottoms. Sam Taplin

Do Not Enter the Monster Zoo! by Amy Sparkes, illustrated by Sara Ogilvie

Monkey Nut by Simon Rickerty

Noisy Bottoms by Sam Taplin, illustrated by Mark Chambers

 Troll Swap Weasels

Spaghetti with the Yeti by Charlotte and Adam Guillain, illustrated by Lee Wildish

Troll Swap by Leigh Hodgkinson

Weasels by Elys Dolan

 

Ages Seven to Fourteen

 Geek Girl (Geek Girl, #1) The Grunts All at Sea

Fish-Head Steve by Jamie Smart

Geek Girl by Holly Smale

The Grunts All at Sea by Philip Ardagh, illustrated by Axel Scheffler

17137682 My Parents Are Out Of Control 

I Am Still Not a Loser by Jim Smith

My Parents Are Out of Control by Pete Johnson

Pants Are Everything by Mark Lowery

Review: Moo! by David LaRochelle

| Tasha

moo

Moo! by David LaRochelle, illustrated by Mike Wohnoutka

Told in just a couple of words, this picture book is one wild ride.  When the farmer puts a sign up that says that his car is for sale, it catches the attention of a cow nearby.  She jumps right in and starts off driving up hill and down:  Moooooooooooooooo.  But then disaster strikes:  Moo!  And she lands in trouble with the police.  She tries to explain herself, but the officer just sends her back home, walking.  When the farmer finds out, what is a cow to do?  You will just have to see how this romp of a picture book ends.

The partnership between author and illustrator is so seamless that I not sure who came up with the concepts.  The text in the book is entirely animal noises and is so simple that any small child will be able to read it on their own after just one shared reading.  Who knew that “moo” could say so much!  The illustrations are simple as well, and play up the jolly humor of the book. 

A simple book perfect for storytime, expect lots of giggles on this joy ride.  Appropriate for ages 1-4.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman

| Tasha

fortunately the milk

Fortunately, the Milk by Neil Gaiman, illustrated by Skottie Young

When Mum left to give a presentation on lizards, she made sure that Dad knew just what he had to do.  One item on the list was getting milk, but that didn’t happen.  So when the family woke to dry cereal and no milk for tea, Dad headed out to get the milk.  He didn’t return for a long, long time.  But when he came back he had quite a story about why he was late.  It involved time travel, a brilliant dinosaur, pirates who don’t have a plank to walk, wumpires with long teeth, and lots and lots of silliness.

Gaiman is a chameleon of an author, keeping us guessing what his next book will be like because one never knows what style he will try next.  Here he is in pure farce mode, something that will enchant young readers even as they can’t read because they are giggling too much.  The humor here is nonstop, one maniac moment after another until you can’t quite tell which way is up.  It’s a grand adventure filled with outright one-liners and puns.

Young’s illustrations are such a part of this book, it is like Gaiman illustrated it himself.  The results are wacky and purely funny.  The father character seems to me to be a marvelous mix of several Dr. Who characters with his dangling striped scarf, wild hair and rather dapper approach to things. 

Hilarious, wacky and wonderful, get this into the hands of elementary aged kids now.  Appropriate for ages 6-8.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett

| Tasha

count the monkeys

Count the Monkeys by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Kevin Cornell

It is clear from the title that this book is about counting monkeys, and the title page explains that all one has to do is turn the page to do just that.  So here we go!  Wait.  1 King Cobra has scared off all of the monkeys.  Turn the page and 2 mongooses (or mongeese maybe?) have scared off the cobra but still no monkeys.  Keep turning pages and there are more animals that scare off the ones from the page before, but no monkeys at all.  The pattern is set until the 8 lumberjacks stick around for multiple pages.  And it will take something unusual to scare them off.  But even then, where are the monkeys?

Barnett has created another surprising picture book that turns a normal counting book merrily on its head.  He speaks directly to the reader, instructing them along the way on how to move the creatures off of the page, how to best turn the page, and explaining what just went wrong.  His silly approach to a counting book will find universal approval.

Cornell’s illustrations have a wonderful humor about them as well.  He takes Barnett’s vision and makes it colorful and bright.  All of the creatures have personality, from the crocodiles in vests and top hats to the self-satisfied wolves who clear out the grandmothers.  Each page has a twinkle to it that makes it fun to take a closer look at the pages.

Pure hilarity, this counting book is made to share out loud with a giggling group of preschoolers.  Appropriate for ages 3-5.

Reviewed from library copy.

Review: The Misadventures of Salem Hyde by Frank Cammuso

| Tasha

misadventures of salem hyde

The Misadventures of Salem Hyde: Spelling Trouble by Frank Cammuso

This is the first book in an upcoming graphic novel series for children in elementary school.  Salem Hyde is a witch, so sometimes she misunderstands what the other kids at school are talking about.  She insists she is a good speller and goes on to prove it by casting a spell.  Unfortunately, the spell turned a teacher into an enormous dinosaur.  After that, Salem’s family decide that she needs an animal companion.  Salem thinks a unicorn would be perfect, but she gets a cat instead: a cat named Percival J. Whamsford III.  As his name indicates, he has a very different personality than Salem.  Let the fun begin!

Done in black and white illustrations, this graphic novel has the feel of a traditional comic strip rather than a graphic novel.  That is not a complaint, in fact I enjoyed the more Calvin and Hobbes feel to the book with moments that stood on their own and the whole telling a full story.  Cammuso’s art has a traditional vibe to it, one that will have mass appeal.  The humor is slick, funny and age appropriate offering silly moments galore.

A strong beginning to a new series, Salem Hyde should be welcome at all libraries as long as she doesn’t try to “spell.”  Appropriate for ages 7-9.

Reviewed from ARC received from Amulet Books.