Those of you who know me (or read this blog regularly) know that I gravitate toward the goofy.  So it should come as no surprise that my new favorite author is goofball extraordinaire, Jan Thomas.  She has written some of the goofiest stories that I have ever encountered; each one is more stupendously silly than the last.  And the real magic and wonder of her books, in my humble opinion, is that they are so very simple.  The brightly-colored, cartoon-like illustrations are uncomplicated and spare, and the text is limited to about one sentence per two-page spread.   Yet with this simple text and these simple drawings, Thomas creates hilarious tales that will have your little guys rolling on the floor.  If your family likes to laugh, then here are two books Thomas wrote in 2009 that you will want to get your hands on:

Rhyming Dust Bunnies — Very strange concept, very well executed.  This is the story of four dust bunnies (if you picture Star Trekkian tribbles with googly eyes, you’ve got the general picture) who love to rhyme.  “We rhyme” says Ned, “All the time!” says Ted.  Then Ted says “Hey, What rhymes with car?”  The dust bunnies throw out far, jar, and tar, but Bob instead says “LOOK!”  He is chided for his non-rhyming contribution, and the dust bunnies move on, trying to rhyme bug.  More options are offered up (rug, hug, mug), but Bob says “LOOK OUT!”  Well, you can probably guess where this is going — a monster with a broom is after the dust bunnies, and Bob’s warnings are heeded just in time.  The dim-witted rhyming dust bunnies will have your kids in hysterics, with the added bonus of making them feel quite clever for figuring out the impending doom of the dust bunnies well before the dust bunnies figure it out for themselves.  An excellent book to share with young toddlers through kindergartners.

Can You Make a Scary Face? — This book will get the whole room moving and grooving.  This cartoon ladybug barks orders to the reader, starting with “STAND UP!” only to change his mind and demand that you “SIT DOWN!”  Then he changes his mind again and orders “STAND UP!”   Then he asks you to pretend — first that you have a bug on your nose, then that the bug flies into your mouth, then onto your shirt.  This requires you to do the chicken dance (of course!)  Eventually you are ordered to make a scary face, which turns out to be too scary for the ladybug, who quickly runs away.  The End.  I’ve had a hard time finding biographical info about Thomas, but I gotta think she’s a librarian or preschool teacher.  This book is PERFECT for storytime!  It gets the kids moving, makes the kids laugh, and has a very satisfying end.  Just make sure you brush up on your chicken dance before you start reading it!

Go get goofy with your little guys!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 16th, 2009 at 10:45 pm and is filed under Book Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.