June 1, 2012
Calmenson and Yoshikawa's high-energy romp follows the hapless Mr. Bungles through another calamitous day (Late for School!, 2008). Though he's not late this time, the teacher's bad day begins with a bump on the head before he even leaves his bed, and things only get worse from there: There's soap in his eye, jam on his tie and a hamster on the loose. It is this last thread that propels most of the story, as the teacher and his students chase the errant class pet through the school, around the track and into town. Momentarily airborne on the tail of a kite, Nibbles is finally cornered at the local pizza place, where he is nibbling some pepperoni. Calmenson's verses reflect Mr. Bungles' breathless day. The clever format leaves the last rhyming word to the page-turn, allowing kids who are listening to shout out the answer. "Mr. Bungles sat down with a sigh. / He said, 'Nibbles, you're a smarty. / You ran us 'round till lunchtime. / Kids, let's have a pizza... // party!' " Yoshikawa's energetic artwork plays up the action of the text with bright colors and blurry lines that denote motion. Poor Mr. Bungles--readers' enjoyment practically guarantees that he will face yet another bad day sometime in the near future. Here's hoping his positive attitude holds up. (Picture book. 3-7)
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September 1, 2012
PreS-Gr 1-The accident-prone teacher who first appeared in Late for School (Carolrhoda, 2008) is back. After getting soap in his eye and jam on his tie, Mr. Bungles knows that it's going to be an "oopsy" day. At school he tries to clean the hamster's cage, but Nibbles escapes. The chase is on with teacher and students hurrying out of the classroom, into the gym, around the track, and into the town. The full-color cartoon illustrations capture the nonstop action, while the rhyming text-placing the next important rhyming word on the following page-builds momentum. The characters' protuberant eyes, open mouths, and wildly flailing arms and legs add to the humor. Clocks regularly mark the time until Nibbles, dangling from the tail of a pig kite, drops into the middle of a pepperoni pizza at Tony's Pizza. The weary teacher takes the animal and the class back to school for a pizza party. As his students say, "Yes, that's our Mr. Bungles./We think he's number one!/Even with the oopsies, /he makes our school day.../fun!" Pair this story with Cynthia Rylant's The Great Gracie Chase: Stop That Dog! (Scholastic, 2001) for breathless, laugh-filled storytimes.-Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN
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