Awards

• Short-listed for Louisiana Young Readers' Choice Award (Grades 6-8) 2007
• Short-listed for Young Hoosier Book Award (Middle Grades) 2007

Overview

An eleven-year-old boy named Robert voices typical--and not so typical--middle-grade concerns in this unique, memorable collection of hilarious poems. His musings cover the usual stuff, like pizza, homework, thank-you notes, and his annoying older sister. In addition, he speculates about professional wrestling for animals, wonders why no one makes scratch-and-sniff fart stickers, designs the ultimate roller coaster (complete with poisonous spiders), and deconstructs the origins of a new word, snarpy. A playful layout and ingenious graphics extend the wry humor that is sure to resonate with readers of all ages.

Full Product Details

9780618428335

Table of Contents

Reviews

"""combines technical brilliance and goofy good humor to provide an accessible, fun-filled collection of poems...brilliant book design"" Starred, SLJ ""Youth will fall for this kind of word play, as will adults...smart, clever, and just plain fun."" VOYA ""graphically inventive sequence of concrete poems...mimes an 11-year-old's sarcastic perspective...A technically (and imaginatively) inspired typeface experiement."" PW ""An exuberant celebration of wordplay that's certain to broaden kids' understanding and appreciation of the possibilities of poetry."" KIRKUS Kirkus Reviews ""combines technical brilliance and goofy good humor to provide an accessible, fun-filled collection of poems...brilliant book design"" Starred, SLJ School Library Journal, Starred ""graphically inventive sequence of concrete poems...mimes an 11-year-old's sarcastic perspective...A technically (and imaginatively) inspired typeface experiement."" PW Publishers Weekly ""humorous...kid-relevant or kid-voiced...well-pitched to a youthful readership...playful layouts...a quick, funny, and painlessly poetic read."" BCCB Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books ""Youth will fall for this kind of word play, as will adults...smart, clever, and just plain fun."" VOYA VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates)"

Eleven-year-old Robert expresses himself-emphatically-through this series of concrete poems that emphasize visual over linguistic imagery. My Stupid Day appears as a circular recitation of an average school day arranged around a clock face; Just Mow the Lawn features graceful blades of grass formed by repetitions of grass on either side of a mown strip made up of vertical ouches. Robert emerges as the prototypical kids'-book kid: smart-mouthed, eternally at war with his sister, deeply in tune with the digestive process, and more interested in sports and video games than school. If he lacks individuality when stacked up against his literary peers, however, he makes up for this in typographical verve. Possibly the best piece is Robert's Four At-Bats, in which the typeface flies, line-drives, grounds out bumpily, and then, in red, hits to right field where it is bobbled, allowing Robert to double and then to score around the infield diamond: Cougars win! An exuberant celebration of wordplay that's certain to broaden kids' understanding and appreciation of the possibilities of poetry. (Poetry. 9-13) (Kirkus Reviews)

combines technical brilliance and goofy good humor to provide an accessible, fun-filled collection of poems...brilliant book design Starred, SLJ

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