humor – One Chapter

Fish Don’t Go To School by Deb Pilutte

5 stars Children’s Picture Books

Henry had a fish named Marigold. This fish looked almost exactly like his suit. Henry loved his fish suit; he wore it everywhere. He loved the way his suit sparkled, its secret pocket, the way the suit felt like a hug and protected him when he wore it.

School was starting soon and Henry was worried about his first day of school. He didn’t tell anyone about his concern except his fish, Marigold. When the first day of school arrived, Henry finally told his mom how scared he was. Henry told her too that he wasn’t going to school unless he could wear his fish suit.

Wearing his fish suit, Henry arrived at school. Everyone stares at him. He needed to wear that suit but as the day progresses, Henry starts to realize that he’s braver and stronger than he thought. Little-by-little he begins to shed pieces of his suit so that he can enjoy his day more. By the end of the day, he’s not wearing much of his fish suit. Henry is having a fantastic day.

I loved the transformation that Henry made in this book. He used the suit for stability and comfort. As he gets used to his surroundings, he starts to shed his suit, and he stands up stronger on his own. The illustrations are wonderfully done and show the confidence and excitement that Henry feels as the day progresses. At the end of the day, as Henry looks back over his day, his progress is shown. His comfort level has increased. A great book!

Prince and Pirate by Charlotte Gunnufson

4 stars Children’s Picture Book

I liked the idea behind this book, but the language used was a bit over the top for my young readers. I ended up having to condense the text as they were losing interest as I read it to them. For older elementary students and up, this might be a great read, but for my little ones, they didn’t care about it.

What was this book all about? Prince and Pirate had their own separate fishing bowls and they were happy. Prince had a castle, a carriage, and some lovely green plants amongst his yellow rocks. Pirate on the other hand had his schooner ship, a skull, a telescope, some green plants and a treasure chest beaming with treasure amongst all his black rocks. They were each the rulers in their own kingdoms. One day, that all changed when their human dumped them into a larger tank…..together!

This was a big surprise to be moved but a bigger surprise awaited them. They now were sharing living quarters! They instantly became enemies when they discovered each other. Name calling, superior behaviors, yelling, just about everything you can imagine, these two threw at each other.

Finally, a line was drawn, a physical line down the middle of the tank. There would still be two separate kingdoms in this larger tank, one for each of them. They would each have half of the tank and life would be good. And it was, until……..

One day a new house is lowered into the tank. A new dogfish is introduced into the tank, and his house, well it sits right between these two-bickering fish. Now what? The dogfish is scared. Dogfish is in new surroundings with new fish, so he hides inside his house. How do Prince and Pirate react to their new tenant? It’s a cute ending to this book, something I didn’t expect to happen so quickly.

I enjoyed the pirate slang and listening to prince’s higher-than-though approach as they slung their comments back and forth. There are lots of great words in this book: majestic, horn-swoggled, keen, splendiferous, frisky, jeered, hiney. These are just a few of the powerful words that are used throughout the book that might need some clarification for younger readers.

“Ye best be keeping clear of me treasure!” Pirate bellowed. “Egad! Keep your filthy fins off my carriage!” Prince exclaimed.

It’s a cute book for the right reader. For me 5 stars but for my grandchildren who liked the fun, bright illustrations but failed to understand and follow the text 2 stars. Middle of the road 3.5 stars- rounded to 4.

The Couch Potato by Jory John

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Funny story but a great lesson learned. Couch potato was exactly that, a couch potato. Potato liked to sit on his comfy, cozy couch all the time. Since he has everything within reach from this spot, why would he ever want anything different.

In front of Potato is a wall full of screens.

Screens that he can do anything he wants on: watch TV, talk to his best friend, use his computer, and even play video games. Life was fantastic for Potato!

When his latest purchase was delivered to his house, Potato went to install it and he lost power. In total darkness, Potato was forced to open his curtains, where…..he discovered the outside world. Hey, there’s life outside the walls of his living room!! Ha, this was funny! Potato decides to venture outside and soon, he’s enjoying the fresh outdoors again. Holy moly, there is more to life than just sitting on the couch! Potatoes life has changed forever!!

We laughed over this story but in reality, I can see this story actually taking place. Some individuals prefer to stay inside and stay connected to the internet when there is the great outdoors calling them. I liked everything about this book. The illustrations were fun and simple, nothing extra was added to illustrations. The story had a great flow and it was high energy. 5 stars.

The Gingerbread Man Loose at Christmas by Laura Murray

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Super cute story!! I can’t wait to read the other Gingerbread stories, that are out there. Told in graphic novel style, this children’s pictures book was fun to read to the grandkids. They were into this story, and they wanted to know what the Gingerbread Man had made and they loved how the baker fixed him up.

It’s Christmas and the Gingerbread Man’s teacher is talking to the students in the class about giving. She wants the students to give the individuals in their neighborhood gifts that can be either something that they have made, something that they do, or something that they say to them. They will then deliver them at the end of the day.

Everyone gets busy creating. Gingerbread Man makes a surprise with glue and glitter while his classmates make cards, bake items and some even practice some songs to sing. When they are completed, they head outside to deliver their gifts. As they are delivering, a snowstorm begins and the teacher turns the children around and they head back to school. The Gingerbread Man is upset; he hasn’t delivered his gift yet! Sneaking away from his class, the Gingerbread Man proceeds to deliver his gift by himself. He gets into a mess as the storm progresses but at last, he finds his destination. It’s so sweet, the person he picked!! The rest of the book is amazing as he surprises this person, and the surprises don’t stop there. Lots of different surprises fill the rest of the book and the Gingerbread Man along with his class is ecstatic that they had such an amazing day.

Big bold illustrations that complement the text and provide energy for the story. I loved the use of all the different text fonts that were used in the story and how large the fonts were. A great story 5 stars

Bird Hugs by Ged Adamson

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Awwwww, so sweet! As I was reading this to our grandchildren, I kept wondering how this was going to end. I felt so sorry for Bernard, and I was beginning to think that he might just need a new style to fix his problem but Bernard was fine, he was perfect just the way he was.

Bernard is a bird. A bird with very huge wings. You might even say humongous wings. As Bernard sat on a branch, his wings almost touched the ground. Bernard looked like he had a huge scarf having around his neck but no, they were his wings. As a young bird, it didn’t matter that his wings were so long as Bernard and the other birds didn’t really use the wings much. As Bernard and his friend grew, his friends started to test their wings for flying. Soon, his friends were flying and Bernard, well, he tried.

Bernard couldn’t fly no matter how many times he tried or who tried to help him. Nothing worked.

His wings had to be good for something, right? Bernard tried to come up with ideas that would make his wings have a purpose, but he couldn’t find anything. Poor Bernard. Defeated, Bernard decided to just hang out on a branch .

It’s there that accidently he made a huge discovery! Bernard had finally discovered what his wings were good for and it made everyone happy. Especially Bernard.

Such a sweet story! I loved how this story flowed. Bernard, as a young bird was on top of the world, then he got sad as he faced an obstacle, but he finally rose to the top again when he overcame his obstacle. It’s a great story for children as it shows the ability to accomplish something and be different. It shows that everyone is special ,unique person and that everyone should be happy and accept each other’s talents. The illustrations are nicely done and not too colorful and bright. 5++ story.

Troubling Tonsils! By Aaron Reynolds

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Charlie is a furry rodent. Like all furry rodents, he attends school. It’s fall and he has just returned from the pumpkin patch with his very own pumpkin! He’s got a sore throat, so Charlie is coughing, and coughing, and coughing. This sets off an alarm with his mother who checks Charlie out and finds that his adenoids are swollen. What adenoids!?! Charlie is alarmed at first, like what are they, but his mother calms him down and he realizes it’s not a death sentence and he’ll just needs to visit the doctor tomorrow.

Yep, the doctor confirms what his mother diagnosed and he’ll have to have them removed. WHAT?!? I liked Charlie’s reactions to all this new information that he hears about his body. Charlie’s vocal and dramatic which made me laugh. There’s a lengthy conversation between the doctor, his dad and Charlie and it’s decided that Charlie will be able to keep his tonsils after they are removed.

You can imagine the excitement and images that invade Charlie’s mind as he envisions bringing his own extracted tonsils to school to show everyone. As that surgery day approaches, Charlie starts to have mixed feelings. As Charlie is being prepped for surgery, a problem occurs. Situated on the table , Charlie enters the world of the unknown. He’s lost and confused. He is trying to escape but he can’t find his way out. Oh Charlie…it’ll be okay.

I liked the drama and the flow of this story, it had a lot of energy, and it moved quickly. Convincing the doctor into letting Charlie keep his tonsils was an unexpected twist in the book and it helped change his mood. Charlie’s emotions were felt, and the illustrations conveyed the book’s message. It was a fun story and not creepy for individuals who know reality from fiction. 4.5 stars

Be Quiet! By Ryan T. Higgins

2 stars Children’s Picture Book

It’s supposed to be a wordless book, but two friends won’t stop talking. Rupert wants to write a wordless book, but his companions will NOT be quiet! Rupert gets angrier and angrier throughout the book until he’s screaming for Nibbs and Thistle to stop talking.

The friends are three mice. Rupert wants to write a wordless book but that would mean silence and Nibbs and Thistle cannot provide that to him. Nibbs and Thistle try to help Rupert in other ways with his book but what Rupert really wants is silence. The book tries to be funny, but I didn’t appreciate the humor. It got old for me. I was getting angry like Rupert. This book didn’t work for me.

Don’t Trust the Dog: Life Lessons From Chip the Dog by Dev Petty

3 stars Children’s Picture Book

I loved the illustrations inside this book. The illustrations are colorful, funny and are full of emotions. The facial expressions on both humans and animals are definitely something that you need to notice as you turn the pages of this book, the illustrator did a fantastic job capturing these sentiments. From the innocent, ecstatic dog to the devious eyes of the feline, you just never know what these two are up to.

Chip feels that he has a lot of knowledge to share with his readers. He has had his share of issues with cats and he’s here to share his experience. Chip, by the way, is a dog. Chip knows for sure that cats are not your friend, and they cannot be trusted. Chip would rather trust anyone but a cat, yet by looking at the situations that he gets into, I think he better start trusting cats. It’s funny watching Chip as he gets into some awkward and hilarious situations as the cats sit by and just watch him.

I think this is a book for older elementary school readers, as some younger readers might not understand the humor. 3.5 stars

The Imposter by Kelly Collier

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Oh, how funny! He only wanted a family. His own family, someone who would want and love him. Perhaps he might just get his chance. Seeing a Lost Poster for Max, a black and white dog, he wonders if perhaps he might take the place of Max. Would the owners of Max even know he is not Max? It is worth a shot.

So, Skunk, yes Skunk tries the idea out and soon, he has some animal friends who decide to help Skunk.

They try to teach him how to look, sound, and act like a dog. It’s time to approach Max’s owners and pretend to be Max, can Skunk be Max?

Hilarious! The ending is sweet, and you’ll love this book!!

My grandchildren and I have read this book over and over again as it’s funny and the illustrations are cute and fit perfectly with the story. 5 stars

Sleepy, the Goodnight Buddy by Drew Daywalt

5 stars Children’s Picture Book

Do not read this before bed especially if it’s your first time reading the book as you’ll be laughing and want to read it again. My grandkids laughed and wanted to read it again. I wasn’t thrilled with the book cover, but the inside of the book is fantastic! Roderick hated going to bed and came up with every excuse to stay up. His parents decided to get him a goodnight buddy to help him sleep.

The buddy’s name was Sleepy.

Roderick didn’t like Sleepy. While trying to hide him, he discovered that Sleepy could actually talk and carry on with a conversation. That could be cool except that Sleepy began to be annoying and want Roderick to do things for him.

Roderick thought that Sleepy was supposed to provide him comfort and not be so needy. The tables have been turned and now, its Sleepy that needs Roderick to get to sleep. Ha! Will Roderick and Sleepy ever get to sleep?

The illustrations are funny and the facial expressions are hilarious. A great story that you’ll laugh over. 5 stars