The children’s mother is away but finally they separate their dad from his newspaper to go out for milk. When he returns with it, father regales the narrator and his sister with his adventures that start when he goes out for milk and is taken by aliens but always saves the milk! Droll line illustration combines with exaggeration for a very funny tall tale.
Fortunately, the Milk
Melonhead, now in 5th grade, and his best friend want to earn money. So when Melonhead has a BOB — short for Brainflash of Brilliance — the We-Fix-It Company is born, starting the adventure and fun. The latest Melonhead book stands alone and is sure to engage young readers.
Melonhead and the We-Fix-It Company
When young Amelia’s dad gets an extra week of vacation from work, they go on a special family vacation — roaming — all recorded in Amelia Bedelia’s faithfully kept journal. Her literalist tendencies are humorous and portend the housekeeper she grows into in later books.
Amelia Bedelia: Road Trip!
Math is all around when the Bird brothers, Woody, Willy, Wilmer, Wendell and Walter compete at games, eat hot dogs, and ride the Ferris wheel at a carnival. Comic illustrations combine with words and numerals to highlight the brothers’ alliterative tale while illuminating basic math concepts.
The Wing Wing Brothers: Carnival de Math
A boy recalls when he was “frightened by numbers” with an “allergic reaction/to multiplication … addition … subtraction.” The narrator ultimately diminishes his fear and the creepy clown-like monster when he realizes how important and fun math can be. Richly-hued illustrations for this cautionary tale are oversized, sitting atop the rhyming text.
The Monster Who Did My Math
Zebra wants to create a traditional counting book but his buddy, Musk Ox, is not cooperating at all! Instead, Musk Ox adds and subtracts animals, much to Zebra’s chagrin but sure to delight readers while challenging their counting and visual acuity! This is a worthy and equally funny companion to A is for Musk Ox (Roaring Brook, 2012).
Musk Ox Counts
Math is not only all around but everyday goings-on make thinking mathematically fun. Activities of varying difficulty (wee ones, little kids, big kids) use the familiar — from dogs to ketchup — to present intriguing math questions to solve, all humorously illustrated. Answers are discreetly placed on each page with additional information for adults at the end.
Bedtime Math
Two of three pigs, paid for their work by the Florida-bound farmer, enjoy chips and “sody-pop” more than a sturdy home. Only one is smart enough to grow healthy food and with her pay build a brick house with a pool. This funny, nonviolent riff on a familiar tale makes a gentle comment about healthy food and hygiene and its impact on huffing and puffing!
The Three Little Pigs and the Somewhat Bad Wolf
A prairie chicken named Mary McBlinken, “heard a rumbling and a grumbling and a tumbling” fearing that “a stampede’s a comin’!” Others join her to alert Cowboy Stan and Red Dog Dan to the impending danger. Almost sidetracked by a tricky coyote, Stan and Dan save the day and stop the rumbling of Mary’s tummy. A take-off of “Chicken Little” is made even more humorous by rib-tickling illustrations.
Prairie Chicken Little
When Nelly May takes a job as housekeeper for Lord Ignasius Pinkwinkle, she must learn a new vocabulary. Lord Pinkwinkle becomes “Most Excellent of All Masters,” his bed a “restful slumberific” and so on — until she must put it all together to save the Master and his home. Jauntily illustrated, a fresh version of an old English tale is sure to engage children.
Nelly Has Her Say
The watermelon seed that skitters across the page becomes a concrete poem and is just one of the funny poetic forms in this collection. The humor in each short poem (from riddles to haiku) is heightened by comic black/white illustrations.
If You Were a Chocolate Mustache
Well-known poems are recast as puzzlers that can only be solved by using math. From easy to difficult, math and poems are sure to delight both mathematicians and poetry lovers.
Edgar Allan Poe’s Pie: Math Puzzlers in Classic Poems
This unapologetically goofy picture book reveals that the legendary ride to town (and the whole macaroni thing) was all suggested by Mr. Doodle’s overeager pony. A historical note ends this colorful, comical take on a nonsensical old song.
Crankee Doodle
Stonewall Hinkleman’s parents are Civil War buffs who reenact its battles, insisting that Stonewall (named for Stonewall Jackson, of course) accompany them. When Stonewall Hinkleman finds has traveled back in time to a real battle, he must work to save history!
Stonewall Hinkleman and the Battle of Bull Run
Can the advice of a paper finger puppet of Yoda on weird Dwight’s hand provide the advice needed by Tommy and other 6th graders? Tommy makes his case in this fast, funny, and first of the Origami Yoda books.
The Strange Case of Origami Yoda
With Dwight away, things are changing at McQuarrie Middle School especially when the Fortune Wookiee (what was once known as a “cootie catcher”) appears on the scene to answer the girls’ questions. This third installment in the Origami Yoda series is sure to please.
The Secret of the Fortune Wookiee: An Origami Yoda Book
Horton Halfpott is the underappreciated but rule-abiding kitchen boy for the Luggertucks of Smugwick Manor. Everything changes — literally and figuratively — when Lady Luggertuck’s corset is loosened to unleash a series of farcical, laugh-out-loud adventures.
Horton Halfpott
Things aren’t always as they seem which propels Lenny Flem, Jr. into action. Join Lenny and Jody O’Rodeo as they thwart the dastardly plans of the hypnotic Fako Mustacho. Readers will recognize pop culture icons in this nefariously funny adventure.
Fake Mustache
When his nemesis makes an origami Darth Vader, chaos ensues. Dwight gets kicked out of school and sent to a school for bad broods! Humor abounds in this silly but satisfying saga that combines parody of popular figures with comedy.
Darth Paper Strikes Back: An Origami Yoda Book
Terry and Andy are friends who live in a huge tree house complete with a bowling alley, game room, laboratory, and much more all of which lead to fantastic, funny adventures. Comic cartoon illustrations vary the format which ranges from traditional to comic book.
The 13-Story Treehouse
Rich language and inspired collage illustrations are used to present 16 imaginative creatures, each combining the familiar and exceptional. Meet “Slobsters” that are “…slovenly/SLOBSTERS are crude…”, “Jollyfish” with infectious humor and “buoyant effervescence”, and many more.
Stardines Swim High Across the Sky and Other Poems
Everyday activities and family members can be laughable especially when presented in short, light verse. Add to the mixture comic illustrations and the thin, liberally illustrated collection of humorous poetry is ready for independent reading or for sharing aloud.
Dirt on My Shirt
A host of deadly predators and their lethal methods are presented. Informative though playful descriptions with cartoon illustrations (that both enhance and mitigate the “gross” factor), the thin volume is sure to intrigue — and inspire further reading.
Deadly: The Truth about the Most Dangerous Creatures on Earth
A tiger roars out of the boy’s alphabet soup for a lively, well-illustrated adventure until his sister agrees to read to him. One wonders, however, if the tiger disappears entirely. This is Imaginative, quirky and well-told story, lushly illustrated.