The Canyon's Edge - an audiobook review

The Canyon's Edge

By Dusti Bowling

Read by Casey Holloway

Hachette Audio

Narrator Casey Holloway keeps you on the edge of your seat as Eleanor works through her present danger and her tragic past in this novel-in-verse adventure.

I reviewed this audiobook for AudioFile Magazine. Click the link for my complete review.

 https://www.audiofilemagazine.com/reviews/read/185023/the-canyons-edge-by-dusti-bowling-read-by-casey-holloway/

Where's Baby? - a review

Where's Baby?

By Anne Hunter
Tundra Books, 2020

Toddlers are one of the most difficult audiences to reach when writing or reading books. Anne Hunter makes it look easy in the charming book, Where's Baby?

Papa Fox looks high and low for Baby, calling out in a large word bubble each time, "Ba-by!"  He asks if Baby is up in the tree, inside the log, under the water, etc.  Each time, someone is there, but it's not Baby. Skunk replies, "I am inside the log, but I am not your baby. Go away!" 

Gentle illustrations in ballpoint pen and colored pencils make it easy to spot Baby hiding in each spread. Blues and grays dominate the color palette, but Baby's brown coloring will help even the youngest of listeners spot his hiding places. Readers will suspect that Papa knows all along where Baby is hiding, and they will be right.  Baby can't wait to play again!

Elements of grammar (location prepositions), fun (seek and find), and comfort (love of family) are all in Where's Baby? When this pandemic has passed us by and I can visit with toddlers again, this will be the first book that I read.


Look inside Where's Baby?



My copy of Where's Baby? was provided by LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground - a review

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground
by Rita Williams-Garcia
Harper Collins, 2017

Cool Papa Byrd was Clayton's grandfather, his best friend, his musical muse, and the coolest electric blues guitar player in Washington Square Park.  Without him, Clayton was a discordant jumble of sorrow and loneliness.

"Everyone saw Clayton leave the school with his mother.  Some had even laughed at him and teased him about the whipping he had coming.

Clayton wasn't worried about a whipping.  His mother wasn't the whipping kind.  She'd take away his treasures first, the things he loved, and the things he loved to do.  But she didn't believe in whipping.  She did, however, believe in scolding.

Clayton's mother scolded from the time they left the school to the time she drove home to the time they got in the house.  Even when she wasn't out-and-out scolding, she spoke in scolding tones, In you-know-betters, what's-gotten-into-yous.  She said over and over, 'Your grandfather's passing is no excuse for this behavior.'

Clayton remained silent through the scolding. He couldn't tell her what was wrong even if he wanted to. He didn't understand it all himself. Even if he could tell her, she would only blame Cool Papa, and Clayton was tired of her being angry at the person he loved the most. He said nothing.'

Clayton Byrd Goes Underground is Clayton's journey through the blues.  Rita Williams-Garcia infuses this story of family grief, anger, and reconciliation with the bluesy notes of Clayton's harmonica, the smooth sounds of Cool Papa Byrd and his group, the Bluesmen, and a ragtag band of hip-hop street performers who ply their trade in New York's subway system.  No slow-starter here—Clayton Byrd Goes Underground grabs the reader from the pickup note.

I read this in one sitting.  Because of its brevity and musical connection, this would be a perfect middle-grade book for an in-school project collaboration between music and language arts teachers.  Queue some blues on your favorite music streaming service and get yourself in the mood for this award-winning book.

• Read an excerpt from Clayton Byrd Goes Underground here.
• A Teacher's Guide for Clayton Byrd Goes Underground here. 
• Listen to an audio excerpt from Clayton Byrd Goes Underground here.

Awards for Clayton Byrd Goes Underground include:
National Book Award Finalist * Kirkus Best Books of 2017 * Horn Book Best Books of 2017 * Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2017 * School Library Journal Best Books of 2017 * NAACP Image Awards Nominee * Chicago Public Library Best Books * A Boston Globe Best Book of 2017

Note: If you want to hear some awesome blues harp, listen to the Led Zeppelin version of "When the Levee Breaks." (originally recorded in 1929 by Kansas Joe McCoy and Memphis Minnie)

Father's Road - a review

Father's Road

by Ji-yun Hang. Translation from Korean by Joy Cowley.
Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2017


Young Wong Chung is old enough to take part in his father's caravan from Chang'an (Xi'an) to Constantinople (Istanbul). He heeds his kindly father's advice and pays attention to everything he sees along the way as they travel the Silk Road from east to West.

We arrived at a place called Turpan where I could smell a sweet aroma. "That's the smell of grapes," said Father.

"Grapes?" I asked. "In a desert?"

"See that white mountain over there? The ice from Tian Shan melts into the soil, and these delicious grapes grow." Father traded some silk for a bunch of grapes that tasted sweet as honey.

I gave two grapes to my camel. He liked them too.

Illustrator Tan Jung creates delicate ink drawings on paper that is flecked and textured to mimic sand. Its color also serves to represent the skin tone of the travelers and the coats of their many camels. Only the silks and featured geographical or commercial highlights are rendered in colors outside a muted palette of tans and grays.  Wong Chung, however, is readily discernible from the rest of the caravan by the pompom atop his cloth hat and his simple, yet endearing facial expressions.

Entertaining, educational, and culturally respectful,  Father's Road is part of the Trade Winds series.


Front and endpapers combine to create a map of the ancient Silk Road.
Back matter contains the following sections:

•     The Silk Road (a discussion of its commercial and historical significance)
•     Key Terms and Concepts (definitions of terms related to cultural and economic globalization)
•     Global Exchange (a discussion of "non-commodities" exchanged on the Silk Road, e.g., religion, inventions, disease)
•     Goods from Around the World (India, Rome, Europe, Eastern Mediterranean, Central Asia, China - a list of the main trading groups and their products)
•     Geography of the Silk Road (a list of major Silk Road cities, their ancient and modern names, significance)
•     A Timeline of Events ( 3000 BCE - 2013 )

On sale 1/30/17.

My Advance Review Copy of Father's Road was provided by LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. 

The Best Man - a review

The Best Man
by Richard Peck
Dial Books, 2016

Richard Peck is a phenomenal writer, and his intent here was write a novel,

" ... addressed to grade-school and middle-school readers. A novel to spark discussion and to open a door to world suddenly living in a whole different era."

He has succeeded in introducing the topic of same-sex marriage in a kind and thoughtful way to his intended audience. Written in the first-person perspective of a rising sixth grader, The Best Man follows young Archer Magill from the end of fifth grade through the beginning of sixth -- through two weddings, bullying, friendship, death, the beginnings of puberty, and wonderful times with his quirky and lovable family. Along the way, he will be the best man in two unforgettable weddings, each of a very different sort. The Best Man is funny and also features Archer's best friend, Lynn,

She was never going to do a lot of peer-grouping with girls. It wasn't her.
"What's that you're drinking?" I inquired.
" A wheat grass smoothie." She wiped off a mustache.
"What's it taste like?"
"Like an open field," she said, "with cow pies."
Then out of nowhere she said, "I'll probably marry Raymond Petrovich. It crossed my mind when he was canceling our absences on e-mail this morning. He's a take-charge guy."
"I thought you weren't ever going to get married," I said, "end of story."
"I was in elementary school when I said that. I've moved on. ..."

This is a story of male role models. You'll love them all. No one tells a story quite like Richard Peck.

Note: 
This review is of an uncorrected Advance Reader Copy of the book.

Saturday book humor and Father's Day favorites

Here's a little fun for the day and two great dad books.

If you're on Twitter: In honor of Father's Day, Barnes and Noble @bnbuzz  is using the hashtag #DadBooks to solicit groan-worthy puns and corny dad jokes based on well-known books. Be sure to check it out or join in the pun. 

Here are a few (with links to their posts):
Oh, the Places You'll Mow
The Girl Who's Certainly not Getting a Dragon Tattoo
Gone Grill
 If you're on Pinterest, check out my board, "Comic strips featuring books."  I've been collecting comic strips that feature books and libraries for the last several years. If you have a good comic strip that I've missed, please feel free to send it to me and I'll pin it.

And lastly, since Father's Day is tomorrow, I'll share two of my favorite "dad" picture books.

•  My Dad by Anthony Browne (Macmillan, 2010) is a funny, homage to the classic jack-of-all-trades kind of dad.  On each page, tribute is paid to the bathrobe-clad dad's many great qualities. The illustrations are wonderful - even as he is depicted as a fish or an owl, he retains his brown, plaid bathrobe.  You can see them here [http://us.macmillan.com/mydad/AnthonyBrowne].

• Tell Me a Tattoo Story by Alison McGhee and illustrated by Eliza Wheeler (Chronicle, 2016) is lovingly written and illustrated.  A young tattooed dad weaves a tale for his son using his tattoos.  A sweet story that should appeal to many young families.

Fortunately the Milk - a review

Gaiman, Neil. 2013. Fortunately, the Milk. New York: Harper Collins.

With Mum out of town and the fridge out of milk, a boy and his sister await their father's return from the store with milk for breakfast.  After an interminably long wait, he comes homes and relates a most outlandish story (frequently interrupted by his son) explaining his lengthy absence.  Much occurred on his journey, but fortunately, he managed to save the milk.  Is it a true story? You decide.

Something very long with a head on the end of it came over to us.  It was attached to a very large body, on the other side of the room. "Who are you?" it asked Professor Steg, "And why is your gorilla holding a transtemporally dislocated milk container?"

"I am not a gorilla," I said.  "I am a human father."

"The human is holding the milk in order to make these evil redecorating snot-bubbles go away and stop menacing this planet and us," said Professor Steg.

The Diplodocus in a police cap opened its mouth and didn't say anything.

The Tyrannosaurus, who had handcuffed all of the green globby people together with something that looked a lot more like pink string-in-a-can than it looked like handcuffs, which was a good thing because they probably didn't have hands and they definitely didn't have wrists, stared at us and his eyes opened wide."

"Great day in the morning!" he exclaimed. 

Humorous black and white illustrations and occasional illustrated text, accompany this explosive burst of ridiculousness. Every father should come home late with such an excuse. A yarn like this is well worth the long wait for milk. Great fun - especially for reluctant readers, boys, and budding humorists.


One caveat: Although it's short (I read it on my lunch break), and fun and silly, making it the perfect choice for reluctant readers, both the son and the father narrate in the first person, which could make it slightly difficult for struggling readers.

This is the official Harper Kids book trailer, however, I prefer the British version from Bloomsbury Publishing for its silliness.They're both fun. Check them out.

Skottie Young illustrated the US version. The UK version was done by Chris Riddell.  Interestingly, the US version is called Fortunately, the Milk, while the UK version is called Fortunately, the Milk ... (note the ellipses)  Want to see the difference?  Click for an excerpt from the UK version. Click for an excerpt from the US version.  Funny how publishers assume that we need different versions.  Other than a few unnecessary u's and misplaced c's (no offence meant, neighbour), I think we're generally on the same page and would do just fine with the same version. No?

Canadians, when there is a UK and a US version, which do you prefer?

Ghetto Cowboy - a review

Neri. G. 2011. Ghetto Cowboy. Ill. by Jesse Joshua Watson. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

Advance Review Copy supplied by publisher

Like Byron Watson's Michigan mother in Christopher Paul Curtis',The Watsons go to Birmingham 1963, Cole's mother, too, is at the end of her rope, nerves frayed by his constant juvenile delinquency. In desperation, she takes Cole south - from the Motor City to the City of Brotherly Love, where she leaves him unceremoniously with his father, a black cowboy in a small ghetto neighborhood of North Philadelphia, where he must get to know the father he's never met, come to terms with his own shortcomings, and learn to survive "the Cowboy Way," in this inner city version of the Old West.

Though this first person account features a hardened kid from the city living within earshot of nightly gang violence, Ghetto Cowboy is a novel of hope and possibility. It is about the love of horses and the ability of poor people to care for them, and for one another. It is a story in which people, even "bad" people, sometimes do the right thing, 

They come up to do whatever they can to help. Some people is carpenters, some electricians, some handymen; some is just kids who don't know nothing.  But a body is a body that can help out somehow.

"...a body is a body that can help out somehow." Amen to that.

 Black and white illustrations help bring this unique culture to life.  My particular favorite is a double-spread of the neighborhood cowboys and Cole, relaxing in the evening, in their street clothes with cowboy boots, two in cowboy hats, one in a hood, most bare-headed.  They're sitting in old lawn furniture or leaning against a barren wall, hoisting an odd assortment of beers, laughing, joking, shootin' the breeze - and one can imagine that they're not so different from the cowboys of old.

Ghetto Cowboy is a short and easy read, its small size belying its powerful emotional punch.

The real-life ghetto cowboys of Philadelphia were the subject of controversy when the PSPCA removed some of their horses several years ago.  Ghetto Cowboys, though fictional, offers an insider's view of these very real urban horsemen. Watch them and decide for yourself.

Check out the Fletcher Street Urban Riding Club here.


The official book trailer is below, but, meaning no disrespect to its creator, I believe that the book is better than its trailer.

G. Neri's "Ghetto Cowboy" book trailer from Greg Neri on Vimeo.

• Listen to a sample of the audiobook from Candlewick.
• Teacher's Guide here.
• Ghetto Cowboy is a finalist in the 2011 Cybils Middle Grade Fiction category.

I received my copy of Ghetto Cowboy for attending a webinar on upcoming releases (obviously, I’m behind in my reviews as the book was released in August).I wouldn’t usually request a YA title, but I’m willing to give most anything from Candlewick a try.(Good call)

Waiting for the Magic

MacLachlan, Patricia. 2011. Waiting for the Magic. New York: Atheneum.

Fifth-grader, William's, father doesn't like dogs. When Papa deserts the family, going off "to write," one summer morning, Mama loads William and 4-year-old Elinor into the car and heads for the local animal shelter.

"What kind of dog are we getting? I asked.
"Whatever they have," said Mama.
"Can we get a cat?" asked Elinor from the back.
"Yes," said Mama.
For a moment I thought about asking for a horse, but I didn't think Mama's mood about animals would last that long.

At the shelter, Mama makes another impulsive decision,

"We'll take them all," Mama said crisply,

the protective Bryn, high-energy Bitty, peaceful Grace, friendly Neo and Lulu, the very patient cat. It is Elinor who first understands the nature of their new pets.  She waves her toy magic wand above them, and they sit patiently, orderly, and they talk - but only Elinor can hear them, because the only
ones who know magic are:

The young
The old
The brave
The honest
The joyful

What will it take for the rest of the family, including Papa, to "know the magic?" It will take love and bravery and honesty and time.

Waiting for the Magic is a short (143 pages) chapter book peppered with simple and attractive penciled sketches by Amy June Bates, perfect for young readers, ages 9-12.  It has some similarities with Kate Feiffer's delightful book, The Problem with the Puddles. Both feature endearing, talking dogs as fully developed characters.

Though Waiting for the Magic is told in William's voice, the dogs often interrupt,

Neo
He misses his father.

Bitty
Yes, he does.

Neo
Can you move over, Bitty?

Bitty
The cat's there.

Neo
The cat's name is Lula, Bitty.  Lula.

Bitty
Okay, Lula.
I know you like her. You ask her to move over.

Printed in italics and placed in the center of the page, readers will have no trouble distinguishing the canine dialogue, and will enjoy the dogs' sometimes silly and sometimes profound commentary.

Newbery winner Patricia MacLachlan's gentle treatment of a difficult topic is laced with humor, magic, and a happy ending.  An enjoyable read.

Read an excerpt here.

© Amy June Bates
This cover image is taken from Amy June Bates' website,
where it is just so precious, that it deserves a visit.

A Monster Calls

Ness, Patrick. 2011. A Monster Calls. Somerville, MA: Candlewick.

 (Advance Reader Copy, courtesy of NetGalley.)

(booktalk)

There is not always a good guy. Nor is there always a bad one. Most people are somewhere in between.

When the monster calls, Conor is not afraid. For this monster, this powerful, all-seeing monster, born of the earth, the trees and all the ages is not nearly as frightening as the monster that lurks within his nightmare.

... it does not matter what you think, the monster said, because your mind will contradict itself a hundred times each day.

You do not write your life with words, the monster said. You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.

Moon over Manifest

Vanderpool, Clare. 2010. Moon over Manifest. New York: Delacorte.

Moon over Manifest is this year's winner of the John Newbery Medal, "awarded annually by the Association for Library Service to Children, a division of the American Library Association, to the author of the most distinguished contribution to American literature for children."

I admit that, like many other librarians, I hadn't read it before it was announced the 2010 winner - but no matter, other librarians wiser than I had picked this stellar gem out of last year's mine full of gems.

...and I learned something about cover art.  For better or worse, I do pick books by their covers (I'm fond of quoting Mary Rose Wood from the Mysterious Howling, "all books are judged by their covers until they are read")  The minute I saw this cover, I loved it, but I didn't read it.  Why?  Because I thought that this winsome little Midwest gal in overalls might not appeal to my little East coast customers.  I thought I might be completely enamored by it, as I was with Ruth White's 2008 book, Little Audrey, and then disappointed when it didn't garner the attention that I'd hoped for.  Well, it looks like Abilene Tucker and her creator, Clare Vanderpool will get plenty of attention - and believe me, they deserve it.  Next time I'll follow my instincts.

Photographer, Richard Tuschman gets credit for the inviting cover art. Check out his original photo of "Abilene" on his blog, Richard Tuschman Images.


Manifest is not only the fictional location of the story, manifest (both the verb and the noun) are an integral part of the story.  Manifest,Kansas, the dry (Dust Bowl and Prohibition style dry) Midwest town is revealed, or made manifest, through the stories of its people, most of whose names can be found on the manifests of ships that passed through Ellis Island. 
 
The story begins in 1936, with Abilene Tucker arriving by train.  Her dad, a drifter, has uncharacteristcally sent her away for the summer - to Manifest, a town she knows only from stories her dad has told her as they've ridden the rails throughout the country.  She hops off the train about a half mile before the Manifest stop, reasoning that

it's best to get a look at a place before it gets a look at you. 

 Abilene has been to enough towns in her short life to know that there are certain "universals" - the rich kid in town that looks down on everyone, the poor kid, and so on.  But as she gets to know the people of Manifest and uncovers bits of their lives through old newspaper articles and a box of hidden mementos, she comes to a realization,

Maybe the world wasn't made of universals that could be summed up in neat little packages.  Maybe there were just people.  People who were tired and hurt and lonley and kind in their own way and their own time.

Abilene tries to figure out why her father has sent her Manifest.  When did he live here?  Why did he leave? Is he coming back? The answers come slowly, with the help of the Hungarian Woman, a diviner, a storyteller who breathes life into the Manifest of 1918, during the Great War, a Manifest run by a wealthy mine owner, a Manifest where the immigrant mine workers are intimidated and exploited.  Abilene uncovers Manifest's secrets (and her own) from Miss Sadie's Divining Parlor, from faded copies of "Hattie Mae's News Auxiliary," and from letters found in the memento box - letters from a boy named Ned fighting overseas, to his hometown friend, Jinx.

Moon Over Manifest begins with a cast of characters, both from 1918 and 1936, and switches from Abilene's first-person account of the events of 1936, to the diviner's stories of 1918 Manifest happenings.  Wartime correspondence from Ned to Jinx, and Hattie Mae's newsy column (along with the occasional advertisement for healing elixirs and such) fill in the blanks or corraborate the Hungarian Woman's stories. Different fonts and points of view are used to help the reader transition from the past to the present. 

Moon Over Manifest is a many-layered story of parental love, redemption, determination, and community. It's also a mystery, and the story of the ultimate con job.  And it can be funny, heartbreaking and pointed at the same time, as shown in this article from "Hattie Mae's News Auxiliary" following a cross burning at the German Fraternal Hall,

July 20, 1918
Since the recent unfortunate happening at the German Fraternal Hall, everyone has been on edge and the mood of the town has been somber.  It is unclear if the motive was the Germans' nationality or their attempt to organize at the mine.  Mr. Keufer says future meetings of the order have been postponed until further notice.
     It is in times like these that this news column cannot provide the needed comfort and solace.  But as I was instructed in my journalism correspondence course through Harper's Magazine, a good reporter must continue to do her job, even in the most trying of times.  These are certainly trying times.
     It has been one year since the first "Yanks" went overseas, and the country hoped they would be home by Christmas past.  However, our boys rally on.  The American Defense Society continues to push for abolishing Hun names in America. For example, changing sauerkraut to liberty cabbage and frankfurters to patriotic pups.  However, many folks in Manifest seem to think that a bit unnecessary.  Especially Mr. Hermann Keufer, who rather likes his name and does not consider himself or his sauerkraut to be a threat to national security.
     Many of the soliders from Camp Funston had a rought boat ride overseas and are still feeling indisposed with flu symptoms.  The army doctor says he's never seen such a fast-spreading outbreak but it should soon be under control.  The troops will be pleased to know that Velma T. has sent off more relief parcels with her newly concocted elixir.
     For Mrs. Larking, who hasnt' been feeling herself of late, the elixir went down fairly easy the day of the Women's Temperance League meeting.  After consuming nearly an entire bottle, she appeared to be feeling better, and although her rendition of "how Dry I am" was a little off tune and a somewhat surprising selection for the gathering, she did seem to have a healthy glow about her.  ...
Hattie Mae Harper
Reporter About Town

A wonderful book!  Highly recommended.
Listen to Clare Vanderpool explain the inspiration for Moon over Manifest, and read a short excerpt.

Browse inside

Cosmic

I’m a bit late to the Cosmic love fest, but am finally ready to chime in.

Cottrell Boyce, Frank. 2010. Cosmic. Walden Pond Press.

An improbable premise powers this first-person, space-age novel.  Twelve-year-old Liam Digby is tall for his age - so tall, in fact, that he's often mistaken for an adult - great fun at the amusement park or car dealership, but a very different story when he finds himself in China's Gobi desert, playing "dad" to his friend, Florida, as they train for a secret mission to outer space.  He does his best to appear "dadly," even referring to a copy of "Talk to Your Teen," hijacked from his own dad, who believes Liam and Florida to be attending a multi-day Gifted and Talented symposium for school!

The laughs are plentiful in this cosmic romp, but Liam and Florida also manage to learn a few things about space, human nature, themselves, and of course, "dadliness."

One person has just left the crowd and is heading over to me.  It's Dad.  He's walking toward me like there's some special gravity pulling him toward me.  And maybe there is.  Maybe everyone's got their own special gravity that lets you go far away, really far away sometimes, but which always brings you back in the end.  Because here's the thing.  Gravity is variable.  Sometimes you float like a feather.  Sometimes you're too heavy to move.  Sometimes one boy can weigh more than the whole universe.  The universe goes on forever, but that doesn't make you small. Everyone is massive.  Everyone is King Kong.

Well said.

Enjoy the trailer.


The publisher offers a Cosmic Reading Group Guide.

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The Batboy

Lupica, Mike. 2010. The Batboy. Read by Lucian Doge. Penguin Audiobooks.
(About 6 hours)

Fourteen-year-old Brian Dudley lives with his divorced mother.  His father, a one-time major league pitcher, is coaching in Japan, unable to give up the game he loved once his pitching career was over. Brian shares his dad's love of baseball.  He plays on a travel team with his best friend Kenny and has just landed the job of his dreams - batboy for the Detroit Tigers.

With his favorite player returning to the Tigers after a steroids scandal, his travel team, The Sting, heading for the playoffs, and the Tigers making a run for the pennant, the lineup reads like a perfect summer.  But a perfect roster doesn't always equal a win in baseball, and Brian's perfect summer lineup may be in for a few losses.

Mike Lupica's latest is a home run.  Just close your eyes and you can smell the hot dogs, hear the crack of the bat, and see the play at first. No one does sports like Mike!

If you're a fan of baseball or ever wondered what it's like to be a batboy, Batboy is your summer reading!


Read an excerpt or enjoy this interview with the author and a trailer for the book.






A podcast of this booktalk will be is available on the Multimedia Booktalk page soon now! :)
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Dog Days

Kinney, Jeff. 2009. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. New York: Amulet.

It's Dog Days as in the dog days of summer (the timing of this book's release could have been better) and Greg Heffley is looking forward to some quality indoor time, but unfortunately, his Mom's idea of the perfect summer vacation does not include horror movies, video games and TV. In Dog Days, Greg woefully recounts his misadventures at Rowley's country club, the public pool, his summer job, and the cabin at the beach. Rodrick, Manny, Gramma, Mom, Dad, the Jeffersons, and Fregley, all make appearances in this latest installment of the Wimpy Kid series. However, the true stars of Dog Days are Greg and his Dad, who learn that father-son bonding may not be the same in every family. Sometimes hating the same comic strip is all that you need.

Dog Days may not have as many "laugh out loud" moments as earlier installments, (Rodrick Rules is still my favorite) but it remains comic genius, hilarious sketches seamlessly integrated into the story, often acting as the "punchline" in place of words.

Usually, I can relate to Mrs. Heffley. In Dog Days, I completely empathize with Greg. As a child, I also dreaded the trip to the "public pool," although my experiences (thankfully) were not the same as Greg's,

"I didn't want Manny to have to walk through the shower area and see the things I've seen. So I got a towel out of my bag and was gonna put it over Manny's eyes when we walked past the shower guys. But in the two seconds it took me to get my towel, Manny was gone. And you'll never believe where he went."

You'll have to imagine the sketch of the diminutive Manny, whistling and washing in the men's shower, surrounded by hairy knees and ankles!

"I knew I had to rescue Manny, so I closed my eyes as tight as I could and went in to save him... When we got to the other side, Manny seemed fine, but I don't think I'll ever totally recover from that experience."

And although I never watched a movie with "the muddy hand," I do remember one with a charred, black hand, and can completely relate with Greg's feelings in this passage,

"My new fear is that the hand is gonna crawl up on my bed and get me in my sleep. So lately I've been covering my whole body with the blanket and leaving a hole so I can breathe. But that strategy his its OWN risks. Rodrick got into my room today, and I had to spend the morning trying to wash the taste of a dirty sock out of my mouth."

And finally, I have to agree with Greg on this one,

"There's this comic about a dog called "Precious Poochie," and it's been running for about fifty years. The guy who wrote it died a long time ago, but they're still recycling his old comics. I don't know if they're funny or not because, to be honest with you, most of them don't even make sense to a person my age."

Well, Jeff Kinney does make sense to a person of Greg Heffley's age! In fact, based on the phenomenal interest in his books, he makes sense to kids of all ages - from 9 to 99.

Check out The Diary of a Wimpy Kid website for the Dog Days Event Kit.