Skip to main content

The Problem with the Puddles

By
The Problem with the Puddles
by Kate Feiffer
ill. Tricia Tusa
208 pages
8-12
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2009

Mr. and Mrs. Puddle started agreeing to disagree when their daughter was born 8 1/2 years ago and they couldn't agree on a name. Mrs. Puddle calls her Emily and Mr. Puddle calls her Ferdinanda. Everyone else just calls her Baby because that is what the nurse ended up writing on her birth certificate. Baby, her parents and her older brother Tom are leaving their country house to return to the city. Everything is a typical chaotic muddle as they load the car, barely leaving room for themselves. They are two hours down the road when they realize they have left their two dogs, Big Sally and Little Sally, behind. Thus begins their adventure in trying to decide whether or not to return immediately for the pets or go home and call a neighbor to look after them until they can make it back to the country. Numerous other characters are introduced, each quirkier than the last.
This book was almost too ridiculous to read. There was so much nonsense and repetitive jabbering that it made my head hurt. I came close to giving up on this book several times. Thankfully, the author wrapped everything up nicely in the end. Tricia Tusa's black and white illustrations scattered throughout the book were cute and fit well with the story. Children in the 8-10 year-old range will probably get many more laughs out of this book than I did.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: A Game of Noctis

By
A Game of Noctis By Deva Fagan New York: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2024. Fiction. 310 pages. On the island of Dantessa, social standings and wealth are determined by your place in the Great Game. If you keep on winning, you can reap treasures, power, and security for yourself and your family; but if you lose too many games, you'll be exiled to Pawn Island and a life of servitude. That's what happens to 12-year-old Pia's grandfather. Due to poor vision, he struggles to see the games, but also can't afford new eyeglasses without winning. When his score falls to zero, he is sent away. Desperate to bring him back, Pia joins a ragtag group of misfits to form a team for the annual game of Noctis. The game requires contestants to perform dangerous challenges in front of a live audience, and no one outside the wealthy Diamond District has ever won. Each member of Pia's team, the Seafoxes, has their own reason to compete, but if they're going to win they'll h...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: The Factory

By
The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: Fowl Play

By
  Fowl Play By Kristin O'Donnell Tubb New York: Katherine Tegen Books, 2024. Fiction 277 pages. Still reeling from her beloved uncle's death, Chloe Alvarez is comforted and confused when at his last will and testament reading, Uncle Will gifts her his African Grey parrot, Charlie. Charlie has a robust vocabulary and loves to make Alexa requests for her favorite songs, but when she starts saying things like, "homicide," and "cyanide," Chloe becomes convinced that Uncle Will may have met his demise by murder instead of a genetic disease, as was previously thought. Ultimately, bringing in her brother, Grammy, and Uncle Frank (and of course Charlie,) Chloe's ragtag and adoring family support her search for answers ---going on stakeouts, engaging in fast pursuits, and searching for clues. But as the suspects stack up and the mystery grows, Chole will learn that the process of death and grieving is complicated, and in the end her Uncle Will's words that, ...
Post a Comment
Read more