Nerp! by Sarah Lynne Reul

Nerp! by Sarah Lynne Reul is an unusual book and I love it for that. An incredibly silly tale about a little monster who doesn't want to eat anything offered to him, it's written entirely in gibberish and yet still totally comprehensible. "Nerp," for example, is obviously "nope". I think it's easier to show illustrations, in this case, so I took a couple interior photos:

Pardon my poor job of cropping. You can see how, even though there's no such thing in reality as "frizzle frazzle hotchy potch," it's clear that it's a food item and the little monster is saying, "No way. I'm not eating that."

The unnamed little guy is offered dish after dish after dish, all with hilarious names, and turns them all down. Then, as the determined parents walk into the room with two more dishes to try to persuade him (or her) to eat, they hear a lengthy slurp and find their little monster has chosen to eat something . . . unusual. But, they're happy the kiddo is eating.

Highly recommended - I had a huge grin on my face while I read this book and I know absolutely without question that my eldest granddaughter would be doubled over in peals of laughter if she was close enough to read it to her. Actually, she's reading on her own, now. She might need a little help with the nonsense language, but I'll bet she'd have a blast reading it between the giggle fits. I love it that an entire book is told in gibberish and yet still completely clear of meaning. And, the illustrations are absolutely perfect. So expressive. You know immediately how that little monster feels. So. Much. Crazy. Fun.

My thanks to Sterling Children's Books for the review copy. Nerp! has just been released, today! Cool. If you have a little picky-eating monster (or even if you don't), you should rush right out to get this one. The giggles will be worth every penny.


©2020 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.

Allie All Along by Sarah Lynne Reul (Children's Week #4)

SNAP! 

Allie's crayon broke. 

I blinked. 

She was suddenly . . . 

furious,

fuming,

frustrated, and so, so sooo 

ANGRY!

When Allie's crayon breaks, she is so angry that she behaves monstrously. In Allie All Along, she's shown as a big red metaphorical monster. Her brother has ideas to help her get over her tantrum, though. First, he gives her a pillow to punch. It helps a bit. The red monster becomes a yellow one, showing that she's a little less angry. He gives Allie her favorite toy to squeeze and that helps a little, too. Now, she's just a green monster.

Step by step, Allie's temper dims as her brother uses calming techniques on her. She becomes less angry until she's just slightly upset and a little sad. And, then a hug is enough to help her forget her anger completely. The monster is gone and it's just Allie showing, now.

Recommended - I'm so far beyond the days of having a small child that I had to think back to remember temper tantrums and then I recalled one doozy that happened while my eldest son and I were shopping. There wasn't a pillow to punch or a toy to squeeze. There won't always be, of course. But, talking about temper tantrums and reading about ideas to manage a little one's anger when they're not angry, or reading to help them calm down, seems like an awfully good idea to me. Even adults don't always understand their own emotions and Allie All Along tells a child, "You're okay. Even when you're unhappy and become a bit of a monster, the real you is in there, just trying to figure out how to cope." And, maybe it will give a few parents ideas for dealing with tantrums.

I also recommend:

The Color Monster: A Pop-Up Book of Feelings by Anna Llenas (page down at the linked site to read my review)

©2018 Nancy Horner. All rights reserved. If you are reading this post at a site other than Bookfoolery or its RSS feed, you are reading a stolen feed. Email bookfoolery@gmail.com for written permission to reproduce text or photos.