Skip to main content

Lizard Music


by Daniel Pinkwater.
New York Review of Books, 2011. 157 pgs. Fiction.

When Victor's parents leave him with his older sister while they are on vacation, he worries about having to take care of her, but she soon leaves for the beach with her hippie friends leaving him on his own to sleep in, eat TV dinners, and stay up late to watch Walter Cronkite, Roger Mudd, and B movies. One night when all stations should have signed off, he sees a jazz ensemble of lizards playing really good music, but when he calls the station to find out who they are, they've never heard of such a thing. When Victor takes the bus into Hogboro he meets the Chicken Man, also known as Charles Swan, Lawrence Lawrence, and Herr Doktor Professor Horace Kupeckie, Plt. D. (Doctor of Poultry), who eventually takes him to the invisible island of the lizards, who are mostly named Reynold. Daniel Pinkwater is a loon of the highest order, and this reissue of one his early books a rare delight. Those of us who remember Walter Cronkite and Roger Mudd with fondness ("And that's the way it is" is Victor's mantra), will enjoy this book more than the whippersnappers for whom it is now newly available, but who could resist a kid who gets to stay home by himself eating pizza with anchovies and drinking grapes soda, and who gets to go on an adventure to the island of the lizards with Herr Doktor Professor and his really, really smart chicken?

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Faker

Faker By Gordon Korman New York: Scholastic Press, 2024. Fiction. 214 pages. 12-year-old Trey is used to starting over at a new school -- he has the routine perfectly memorized: make new friends, introduce his dad to the wealthy parents of his new friends, and "Houdini" themselves out of there before they get caught running their latest scam. Trey's dad is a master con artist, and Trey has just been promoted to full-partner. Their new scheme for the next big score brings them to the affluent suburb of Boxelder, TN where Trey's dad has cooked up a fake electric car company for investors to buy into. The only problem is that Trey is starting to grow tired of moving around and never putting down roots, especially after forming a fast friendship with Logan and developing a crush on Kaylee, a socially conscious girl in his class. As Trey longs for a normal life, is there any way he can convince his dad to get out of the family business? Gordon Korman is a perennial favorit...

If You Like...Ladybugs

Spring is almost upon us! We'll have more rain instead of snow, flowers will start blooming, and more bugs will be out. Ladybugs are some of the prettiest insects--and the least intimidating for those more wary of bugs. If you like ladybugs, check out these books! Ladybugs Do Not Go to Preschool Written by Ali Rutstein Illustrated by NinĢ‹a Nill Richmond, VA: Bright Light, 2024. Picture Book. Ravi loves ladybugs--he eats aphids instead of cornflakes for breakfast, brushes his mandibles instead of teeth, and has a ladybug costume complete with wings and antennae. He is certain that ladybugs don't have to go to preschool, and when Mom says that Ravi still has to go to school, he is nervous. However, thanks to Mom's patience and gentle encouragement, Ravi makes some new friends and realizes that preschool might be a good place for ladybugs after all. A Perfect Spot By Isabelle Simler Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers, 2022. Picture Book. A ladybug is ready to ...

You Need to Read: Percy Jackson

I was a kid myself when  The Lightning Thief  by Rick Riordan was published, and it didn't take long for the Percy Jackson series to take the world by storm. Being the son of a Poseidon, Percy Jackson has some unique challenges as a half-blood. Here's some books that I think could've helped Percy when he was on his adventures trying to save the world: Greeking Out: Heroes and Olympians Written by Kenny Curtis and Jillian Hughes Illustrated by Javier Espila Washington D.C.: National Geographic, 2024. Informational. 191 pages. Percy, I know Chiron did a good job teaching you about mythology in Latin class, but this book is sure to be good to have on hand while you're traveling across the United States. Greeking Out  is written in a kid-friendly voice with vivid illustrations and a sometimes-snarky tone (much like Percy himself). It also presents real-life creatures and places along with the information about Greek mythology. The Homework Squad's ADHD Guide to School S...