humorous picture books

[ravenous review] Attack of the Hangries by Katherine Pryor and Thiago Buzzy

~ jama ~ 7 Comments

It happens to the best of us. Keeping busy, moving through an ordinary day, things seem to be going quite well, when suddenly — out of nowhere — ATTACK!

Instead of our cheery, cooperative (and might I add) cute and cuddly selves, we’re cranky, cantankerous, even a bit CRAZY. Help! What’s going on?!

We’re HANGRY, of course. Hungry + Angry = Hangry. Simple as that. Good thing there’s a brand new picture book all about it. In Attack of the Hangries by Katherine Pryor and Thiago Buzzy (WorthyKids, 2025), we learn what the hangries are, what causes them and how to effectively keep them at bay.

Entertaining, informative, and all too relatable, this belly rumbling tome is powered by Pryor’s lively, engaging prose and Buzzy’s hilarious, high octane cartoons, providing readers with lots to chew on as they consider the science behind hunger and mood.

First off, we’re told the hangries are sneaky. No matter where you are or what you’re doing (home, school, “spelunking in the caves of Quintana Roo”), or whether you’re having a terrible or fantastic day, the hangries can take over.

Your brain scrambles. Your limbs flail. All you want to do is SCREAM! AT EVERYONE! FOR ANYTHING!

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[salty review] Potatoes for Pirate Pearl by Jennifer Concepcion and Chloe Burgett

~ jama ~ 9 Comments

Ahoy there, mateys!

Pardon for sayin’ so, but yer lookin’ a might peckish, mebbe a trifle peaked.

No worries, here be a tasty tater tale to tempt your tum-tum. Yarrr! We’re off to the high seas with Pirate Pearl and her perky parrot Petunia in pursuit of provisions. So twirl yer tricorns and climb aboard!

In the rib-tickling read-aloud, Potatoes for Pirate Pearl by Jennifer Concepcion and Chloe Burgett (Feeding Minds Press, 2023), a hungry pirate and her squawky sidekick learn how to plant, grow, and harvest potatoes, all while making a new friend.

Pearl and Petunia, who had been at sea for many months aboard the Jolly Oyster, were absolutely fed up with eating hardtack biscuits day after day. “I’ll make this codswallop walk the plank!,” Pearl said, just before she tossed their barrel of grub overboard.

Now what?

Luckily, with a “splish splash SQUAWK” they were soon able to make landfall to scope out some fresh grub. They “splashed through streams . . . hiked hills . . . and trooped through trees” when they spied a red barn and silo in the distance. “Thar she grows!”

Fading fast, Pearl and Petunia could barely drag themselves toward the farm. Just in the nick of time, a friendly landlubber named Farmer Fay came to the rescue. She carted them off to her kitchen to revive them with a steaming bowl of potato soup. Blimey, was it good!

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[bouncy review] Pass the Baby by Susanna Reich and Raúl Colón

~ jama ~ 15 Comments

Since I grew up with a large extended family, loud talky meals were par for the course. Along with lots of tasty food, my aunties served up a fair share of juicy gossip and heaps of hilarity whenever we got together.

My cousins and I knew the drill. If you were a baby or toddler, you could expect to be doted upon — hugged, held, kissed or tickled. An uncle might toss you up in the air, and if you weren’t careful, you could even get your cheeks pinched.

All part of happy family gatherings, where the youngest is usually the center of attention. And why not? Who doesn’t love a wriggly, giggly, drooly, pint-sized bundle of fun?

In Pass the Baby by Susanna Reich and Raúl Colón (Neal Porter Books, 2023), we’re invited to join a lively multiethnic blended family as they set the table, prepare the food, enjoy their meal, clean up the mess, and then collapse from exhaustion — all while playing with, feeding and entertaining the baby, as she’s passed from lap to lap.

Reich’s rollicking rhyming text pulls us right into the action from the get-go, filling us with excitement and anticipation as we sense Baby will be the star of the show.

Family dinner, set the table,
forks and spoons and napkins too.
Knives and plates and water glasses,
flowers, candles, bright and new.
Wait a minute, where's the baby?
Someone's playing peekaboo!

As the guests gather round and help with finishing touches, hungry Baby fusses a little. So begins her journey around the table, as she’s cuddled by different family members. An ebullient refrain underscores everyone’s uproarious delight:

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[srsly hppy review] ZigZag by Julie Paschkis

~ jama ~ 14 Comments

#64 in an ongoing series of posts celebrating the alphabet

Hungry? Roll these words around in your mouth: sip, slurp, sliver, snap!

Pretty tasty, no?

What’s that? You want more? Okay, crunch on these: crack, creak, clack!

Ahhhhh. I can tell by that big smile on your face that you’re probably a fellow word connoisseur. Hearing them, saying them, reading them, writing them, and now, eating them — words, whether short, long or in-between, are the ultimate feast.

In Julie Paschkis’s Zigzag (Enchanted Lion Press, 2023) — a zippy, juicy, jazzy hullabaloo of a picture book — we meet a voracious crocodile who “liked to taste words.” He had quite the discerning palate, too.

Harmonica tasted like honey.

Grackle crackled and was crunchy.

Flinch was sharp and bitter.

Bulb had a thick, purple taste.

All was peachy until the day Zigzag vigorously danced with his friends Kit and Kat. They swung their tails and shook their tambourines. Because tambourine just happened to be especially delicious (“like an orange, but more mysterious”), Zigzag forgot himself. Gulp! He accidentally swallowed the word with all of its vowels!

All that was left in Zigzag’s mouth was tmbrn. Talk about tasteless. But that was the least of his problems. Other foods didn’t taste good either: where was the roll-in-your-mouth flavor of a pr or a pch or grps?

Blch.

Zigzag had always loved to read, but now, all bks were brng. Even worse, he couldn’t slp at night. His bd felt too short.

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a trio of King Charles III picture books

~ jama ~ 4 Comments

Don your sparkly tiaras and ermine robes! Today we’re celebrating the upcoming coronation of King Charles III with three recently published picture books about the green-planet-loving, lunch-skipping, kilt-wearing, cheesy baked eggs aficionado Charles Philip Arthur George.

Our “sovereign sandwich” consists of one meaty nonfiction title nestled between two light hearted tales, sure to satisfy kids’ curiosity about just who this man is and why his coronation is such an important moment in history.

While you’re reading about these kingly books, help yourself to a plum (Charles’s favorite fruit), and egg soldiers (he eats a boiled egg every single day). Enjoy!

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1. THE KING’S PANTS by Nicholas Allan (Andersen Press, 2023).

You know how kids giggle whenever the word ‘underwear’ or ‘underpants’ appears in a book? Well, British kids are similarly set off at the mere mention of ‘pants,’ since for them pants = underpants.

And there are a LOT of them in Nicholas Allan’s hilarious, irreverent yarn. The King, it seems, is quite a natty dresser. Not only does he own many crowns, he has drawers full of pants. One would, of course, need a pair of pants for every occasion: Everyday, Weekend, Coronation (he simply could NOT be crowned without those).

Well, one time when he goes on a trip, Cedric, the Keeper of the Pants, puts the King’s pants in a sack which gets mixed up with the Royal Mail sack. Chaos reigns when the following day the King’s subjects receive pants in their letter boxes instead of mail. Quelle surprise!

Undercover police were sent to uncover the underwear. Sniffer dogs were used to track them down!

After all the pants are recovered and laundered, the King decrees that many more pants should be made for him to avoid any future accidents. Among the additions: Peace and War pants, International, Posh Royal, Meeting the People. He even has Space Pants fitted with emergency air bags, and Organic Pants which are edible in emergencies. When he goes to Windsor or Balmoral, he wears his Castle Boxer Shorts (the working drawbridge in front is very useful).

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