The Wrong Book

November 6, 2023
The protagonist of this meta comedy by Daywalt (the Crayons series) and Willmore (Little Black Hole) is an anthropomorphized yellow bookmark-like entity with blue legs, brown boots, and blue thread popping out of its flat head. As an omniscient narrator begins introducing, primer-like, objects with associated songs, the bookmark is moved by the sight of a “pretty” apple and the smell of a flower with a “wonderful” scent. But when the narrator next insists that “flowers go CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOOOO CHOOOO!!!!!” it’s clear that conceptual anarchy is afoot. Soon, the narrator claims not only that a puppy is a bicycle but also that “the bicycle says, BURRRRP!” Stuck in the pages, the increasingly agitated protagonist can’t seem to make the narrator stop, so it tries to rally the characters: “Clearly the narrator of this book is all cuckoo-bonker-pants and doesn’t know nothin’. So it’s up to us. What do you say?” Even if the answer isn’t what the bookmark hoped to hear, the book’s resolute silliness, Looney Tunes comic beats, and topsy-turvy perspective make clear that this is a rambunctious read-aloud that’s tailor-made to induce giggle fits. Ages 3–7.

December 15, 2023
A bookmark accompanies readers through a book as the sounds that the creatures and things within make become increasingly bizarre. First, an apple goes "crunch" when you eat it. Sure. Then a flower says, "CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOO CHOO!!!!" What? And then a bicycle--or wait, isn't that a puppy?--belches. Huh. When an "elephant"--actually, a brown-skinned firefighter--says, "DING-DONG!" the bookmark has had it and must correct the unseen narrator: "It's a firefighter, and a firefighter says stuff like 'Hey! Let's go put out that fire!'" As the story progresses, more and more creatures make the wrong noises. Bicycles referred to as lions moo, a chicken (dubbed a fish) goes "SPLISH-SPLASH-SPLISH!" and a shark ("a yummy hamburger") says, "BAWK BAWK BAWK and COCK-A-DOODLE-DOO!" Finally, the increasingly distressed bookmark makes one last attempt to right the inaccurate onomatopoeia. This fast-paced tale balances the narration's straightforward delivery of inaccurate statements with the bookmark's initial confusion and later frustration to create a hilarious subversion of expectations. Little ones will delight in the obvious errors, and the right reader will be able to deliver the various "moos" and "beeps," with humorous results. Exuberant illustrations--the hyper-expressive bookmark is especially funny--as well as the use of different typefaces further compound the ridiculousness of the characters' antics, making for a colorful and high-energy reading experience. Chaotic fun, perfect for read-alouds. (Picture book, 3-5.)

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March 29, 2024

PreS-Gr 2-The wordplay and high jinks begin on the cover, with the author's name printed as Nightwalt and edited to Daywalt in a scrawl; the illustrator's name is also corrected, as are several other details. What's really wrong with The Wrong Book? The answer is that perhaps the creators have gotten everything right about being wrong in a book that becomes incrementally sillier.The apple sounds crunchy as it's being eaten but the flower makes a sound that is closer to the choo-choo of the train. The bicycle says, "Burp!" and the firefighter, a smiling woman with brown skin and black hair, is labeled an elephant and says, "Ding-Dong!" The small yellow bookmarks that puzzle their way through these pages are no closer to understanding the book when it closes than when it opened, forcing the lesson on children following along this madness that, perhaps, things just don't make sense. It's absurd, sometimes funny, and confusing when the one bookmark that seems to know what's what has no better luck at corralling the nonsense. VERDICT For hardened and impervious Daywalt fans, this will go down smooth, but it's not a must purchase.-Ginnie Abbott

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2024
An unseen speaker introduces items and characters with statements that are, for the most part, wrong ("This is a flower. Flowers grow all over the world and...go CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOOOO CHOOOO!!!!"). Or are they? A frustrated talking bookmark acts as a stand-in for the audience, reacting to the ridiculousness in speech-bubble dialogue and eventually pulling in the subjects themselves; readers and listeners will likely find the absurdity more enjoyable than the increasingly enraged bookmark does. Mixed-media illustrations in bold colors contain lots of room for our bookmark friend to amusingly bounce around.

(Copyright 2024 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)