What's Black and White and Stinks All Over? a review

One of the best things about reviewing books for School Library Journal, is that I never know what book they will send me.  As a reviewer, I am obligated to read (or in my case, to listen to) books that I might not otherwise choose for myself, and that's a positive for me.  I try to read across all genres so that I may be more helpful to local kids, but I admit that easy readers and beginning chapter books are not usually my first choice when perusing a bag of new books.  Thanks to SLJ, here then, is a review of the chapter book, What's Black and White and Stinks All Over? Book 4 in the George Brown, Class Clown series, as it appeared in the October 2012 edition of SLJ. (typos corrected)

What’s Black and White and Stinks all Over?: George Brown, Class clown, Book 4. By Nancy Krulik. 1 cassette or 1 CD. 1 hr. Recorded Books. 2012. cassette: ISBN 978-1-4618-1855-7, CD:ISBN 978-1-4618-1856-4. $15.75.

Gr 2-4 - Falling somewhere between Megan McDonald’s Stink series and David Lubar’s Nathan Abercrombie, Accidental Zombie for both silliness and reading difficulty, George Brown, Class Clown is a beginning reader with an unusual twist - a magical “super burp” that erupts in wild behavior. With a father in the Army, George moves often; he’s determined to fit in at his new school without earning his usual reputation as the class clown. However, when George feels the burp coming on, there’s no telling what he might do - dance on the table, jump in the lake, even act like a dog! In What’s Black and Red and Stinks all Over, the burp causes havoc at Edith B. Sugarman School’s fourth grade Field Day events. George has high hopes of becoming the sportscaster for the school’s new WEBS TV, but Louie, the class bully, and George’s burp-inspired antics nearly spoil his chances. A stretch of the imagination is required to envision a 4th grade girl from Jonathan Todd Ross’s vocal rendition of George’s classmate, Sage, but his portrayal of George, his friends, and Louie is engaging and believable. Frequent “bookmarks” make it easy for readers following along with a print version. Kids already invested in the series will appreciate this fourth installment. New listeners will be up to speed in no time.

Copyright © 2012 Library Journals, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. Reprinted with permission.

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You can hear an audio clip of What's Black and White and Stinks All Over? at Amazon.