Where is Our Library? by Josh Funk and Stevie Lewis

You get an early peek at one of the books I bought in my second Book Outlet order (the one I think of as "the naughty one") before my Monday Malarkey photo of next week. Yay. I knew you'd be thrilled. 

I have loved author Josh Funk's Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast series (also children's picture books) and I added Where Is Our Library? to my wish list when Josh posted about it on Twitter. Oh, how I wanted that book! It took a couple of years, though, because I often feel like I can't excuse the purchase of children's books, my grandchildren being so far away and no other children in my orbit. But, at about half the retail price, I was so excited you would have seen nothing but a blur if you were watching me put that book in my cart. 

Good decision. Where Is Our Library? is a delightful rhyming tale in which the New York Public Library's lion statues, Patience and Fortitude, come alive at night. They walk to the children's book section of their library branch, as is their habit, but find it empty! Where have the books gone?

Patience and Fortitude go in search of the children's books and in so doing, take the reader on a lovely tour around New York City, including Central Park and some of New York City's branch libraries. 

Highly recommended - Particularly of interest to those who have visited or live(d) in New York City and library lovers of all stripes. I felt swept into their adventure and found myself reminiscing about walks around New York City. I haven't been to Central Park but now I want to see it, next time I'm up that way! 

©2021 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.

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast: Mission Defrostable by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney (Children's Week #7)

Deep in the gloomiest nook of the fridge,

past Veggie Valley and Rosemary Ridge,

meeting in secret behind Pickle Post, 

sat Lady Pancake beside Sir French Toast.

"Surely you've noticed a chill in the air,"

said Pancake, "I'm freezing! There's frost in my hair!"

Something has gone wrong in the fridge. Instead of chilling things to the usual temperature, everything is getting frosty and frozen, like the fridge temperature has been turned to freezer level. What's going on? Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast are mulling the problem when a detective (who also happens to be a spear of asparagus) shows up. They head toward the freezer to figure out the problem, but then the detective suddenly disappears. Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast need help. So, they turn to their rival, Baron von Waffle. Waffle knows the freezer well and can keep them from becoming lost.

The trio makes its way to the heart of the freezer, but Pancake and French Toast are seized by a bunch of popsicles and shackled with curly fry chains. They're taken to see the empress, who tells them her story of horror and revenge. But, then Baron von Waffle swoops in to save the day. The empress is impressed by the touching scene of friendship and agrees to unfreeze the fridge. All return to the fridge, heroes who have saved the day.

Highly recommended - I love this entire series. It's cute, silly, adventurous, and I love, love, love the illustrations, in which fridge and freezer contents are made to look like landscapes. There's always a fold-out illustration, as well, so careful to save this one for children who are past the page-tearing stage (click on image to enlarge).

My reviews of the first two in the series:

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Funk and Kearney 
Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast: The Case of the Stinky Stench by Funk and Kearney

©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.

Albie Newton by Josh Funk and Ester Garay

Little Albie Newton

was a thinker from the start.

He built a mega-stroller 

after taking his apart. 

The day that Albie learned to count, 

he ran to Mom and cried. 

He couldn't reach infinity,

despite how hard he tried. 

The star of Albie Newton is clearly a genius. He can do anything; even paint like Van Gogh and write sonnets (while other kids are drawing stick people and writing simple words). But, now he's just starting at a new school in the middle of the year. He wants to make friends, so he decides he's got to make something special -- a gift for the class -- and he must finish it before the school day ends. Albie sets to work gathering parts. Some might call it stealing, the way he keeps running off with things people are using or playing with, but Albie is oblivious. He's so immersed in his creation that he's causing trouble.

Dave propelled a wind-up plane across a classroom rug.

Albie picked it up and pulled its wings off with a tug. 

Evie tried to read a book with Adra and Raúl as

BOOMING PANDEMONIUM descended on the school.

So, everyone's unhappy with Albie. Until his fellow students see what he's created: a combination spaceship and time machine. Everyone hops on and the final panel shows kids in spacesuits playing with a caveman, an alien or two, a dinosaur building a pyramid, Shakespeare trying to balance a stack of books. Albie may be lost in his own world of inventions, but he has definitely created a fun invention on his first day of school.

Highly recommended - If this book has a theme, it's probably that we're not all alike in ability but we can find a way to get along. That's lost a bit in the sheer fun of the story, another rhyming tale that is a delight to read with a few giggle-inducing illustrations. I love the crazy spaceship-slash-time machine that's unveiled in the end and just the idea of it. Imagine if your (probably 1st grade) classmate was able to take you to other worlds. It's imaginative fun. And, I particularly love the "booming pandemonium" that describes how everyone's getting worked up and frustrated with Albie before they realize that he's actually got good intentions. An imaginative book about a smart kid adapting to a normal classroom in a big way.

©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.

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast: The Case of the Stinky Stench by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney

Back in the kitchen and deep in the fridge,
past Trifle Tower, across Taco Bridge,
on a vacation at Mashmallow Coast,
sat Lady Pancake beside Sir French Toast.


Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast: The Case of the Stinky Stench takes the characters from Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast on a new adventure inside the fridge. This time, there is a strange smell in the refrigerator. Inspector Croissant, Sir French Toast's nephew, is on the job. But, he needs help and Toast is willing do try. Croissant has interrupted Pancake and Toast's vacation but they're a team, now, so they both join Croissant on the search.

First, they decide to check the lair of their nemesis, Baron von Waffle, who lives in the Onion Ring Cave. They cross Salsa Ravine and traipse around Mount Everbean to arrive at his home. Von Waffle is not happy to see them. But, he is clearly innocent. His home smells delicious and nobody can dispute it. Outside, the smell is growing worse. After crossing Applesauce River, they hear a rumor about a stinky red fish in the bottom of Corn Chowder Lake. It turns out to be . . . a red herring. And, yes, it smells fine. The puns are definitely one of my favorite things about this book. As they prepare to check out the lake made of corn chowder:

"Great!" said Croissant as he tripped by Miss Steak. 

Finally, they draw close to the bad smell and discover its origin is a fruitcake that's molded. But fruitcakes last forever! Surely there's a solution. The fruitcake tells the story of his downfall but Croissant says, "This is no villain. Let's help him. Make way!" And, off they go to find a place where the fruitcake can get a shower and shave.

Now that fruitcake has been cleaned up, the day is saved, the case solved. The contents of the refrigerator have a party with music by Spuddy Holly and the Croquettes. And as in its predecessor, Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast, the book ends with a fold-out page with a view of the contents of the refrigerator, which is quite different from the layout in the first book.

Highly recommended - Just like the first book, the colorful and creative fridge interior made me smile. I also found myself studying the geography - the Marshmallow Coast (which appears to be on the edge of a chocolate river), the bridge given its contours by bottles of maple syrup and tacos, the Salsa Ravine with chips wedged into its edges. I adored the use of puns, too. You're never too young to learn about clever wording. Because the food is animated, it's especially appreciated that the rotten item was salvageable. And, I love the full view of the refrigerator interior - a map on which one can trace the journey. So. Much. Fun.

©2017 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.

Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast by Josh Funk and Brendan Kearney

In Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast, the title characters live "Deep in the fridge and behind the green peas, way past the tofu and left of the cheese." They're good friends. But, when Miss Brie brings the news that there's only a single drop of syrup remaining in the bottle, they both announce their desire for the last drop. And, the race is on.

Through Broccoli Forest, past Orange Juice Fountain,
they climbed to the top of Potato Mash Mountain.

Pushing and shoving they fought for the lead,
Toast behind Pancake, who rolled at high speed.

As they race through the fridge, each has plenty of mishaps. Sir French Toast falls in an open pot of jam and takes an unfortunately ill-conceived ski leap off of Sauerkraut Peak, landing him below his destination. Lady Pancake gets stuck in Chili Lagoon and causes an avalanche of beans, even after being warned to change directions by a chickpea. 

But, finally they arrive, "battered and soggy, exhausted and crumbling," beside the bottle of syrup. And, it's empty. While they were racing each other, Baron von Waffle managed to sneak over to the bottle, first. He enjoyed that last drop. 

With one evil laugh, Waffle slipped out of sight. 
The syrup was gone. No more reason to fight.

Trudging back home beneath layers of grime,
Toast said, "Perhaps we should not fight next time."

Always a welcome lesson, that joining forces is better than fighting, Pancake and Toast begin their pact by immediately agreeing to share a pat of butter. 

Highly recommended - Lady Pancake and Sir French Toast is another one of my new favorites. I've fortunately gotten to read a lot of great children's books lately. The illustrations are pure delight. I've read the book several times and I find myself smiling all the way through. I particularly love the creative way food is used to make forests and mountains, a fountain, a lagoon . . . even a parachute fashioned from a lettuce leaf. At the end of the book, there's a fold-down page that shows the entire refrigerator interior, so you can see how when Sir French Toast fell way too far after vaulting off Sauerkraut Peak he landed in the vegetable crisper. Ridiculously fun.

©2017 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.