Tag Archives: humorous fiction

The Best of Iggy

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written by Annie Barrows and illustrated by Sam Ricks

Iggy gets into trouble and this book details three incidents in Iggy’s life to illustrate this in ascending order of ‘badness’. The disembodied narrator presents the incidents in 20 short chapters with some humorous color commentary. Nine year old Iggy isn’t a bad boy. He just doesn’t think before he acts and that gets him into trouble. Incident #1 involves a rather snooty guest, a trampoline, skateboard and shed roof. Incident #2 involves shaving cream, lipstick and an eyebrow pencil and Incident #3 (the worst) involves a ‘race’ with desks and friends that (slightly) injures his beloved teacher. Typically, Iggy feels misunderstood and there are extenuating circumstances. In the case of the incident involving his teacher, he is sooooooo very sorry even years later.

The story is told in short chapters with accessible language and accompanying black and white illustrations. Students that enjoy realistic and funny stories will check out all the Iggy books. Give this to kids that aren’t quite ready for “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” or the Middle School series. They’ll love it! Highly recommended.

Night Frights: The Haunted Mustache

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by Joe McGee, illustrated by Ted Skaffa

Parker, Lucas and Samantha live in a relatively quiet, normal town, except on October 19th. That is the day (and night) that the entire town shuts down early and people lock themselves away in their homes, wearing mustaches. Wait….what? Since the kids are now fifth graders, they hear the truth surrounding this mysterious tradition. Their teacher tells the tale of Bockius Beauregard, a man with a luxuriant mustache who died in a a huge explosion. He died, but his perfectly groomed mustache terrorized the town on the anniversary of the date he was “vaporized”. It had been the only part of him left to bury and it reappeared each year, hunting for an upper lip to which to attach.

Parker and Lucas, fifth grade sleuths who ran the Midnight Owl Detective Agency, decided to sneak out and investigate this eery phenomena in order t to end the paranormal grip this scary mustache had on their town. Classmate Samantha, a rather gothic young poet from their class, demanded to be part of the investigation and they met in the local cemetery after a quick visit to the local (scary) library to research. They find the grave that holds the Beauregard’s mustache, armed with mustache wax, salt and fake mustaches. What ensues is a ghostly chase that ends with the mustache trapped forever in it’s old home, surrounded by salt…or is it? Read this mystery to find out!

This story is well-written with widely-spaced text and accentuated with black and white illustrations that move the story along at a nice pace. It is slightly scary and rather comical and perfect for those students that are ready for chapter books. Samantha and Lucas appear white, while Parker seems to be darker skinned. Since it is part of a series, there will be more mysteries to come. And, you never know – the mustache might return! Highly recommended.

A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy

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by Jeff Bishop

Review by David R. 11th Grade

A Heavy Dose of Allison Tandy surprised me. Based on the cover, I thought it would be too romantic and light. I was wrong. This book is darker and definitely more suspenseful and interesting than you would think by looking at its pink cover. I definitely recommend it, especially for guys who want to read a romance from the boy’s point of view.

Izzy’s Tail of Trouble

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Izzy and her friend, Zoe, love to dress up her dog in baby clothes and play “baby stealer” with Zoe’s older brother. It’s typically a giggle-filled screamfest when Izzy and Rolo are at Zoe’s house. Unfortunately, things are changing and it’s hard for Izzy. Rollo is growing into a big dog and the baby clothes are getting too small. He’s also getting into some big doggy trouble. Lionel, Zoe’s brother, is becoming a teenager. And, he is the epitome of a teenager – surly, pimply and no fun at all.

Izzy doesn’t like these changes and is determined to find out of there is some kind of cure for these two maladies. She and her mom take Rollo to obedience school and he doesn’t do well. Izzy works hard with him and uses some of what she learns to engage Lionel, which turns out surprisingly well.

Through some gently comedic adventures, Izzy works on these problems, realizing along the way that change is inevitable. But, the fun doesn’t have to end, it’s just different.

Readers new to chapter books will enjoy this story. Accompanying illustrations in black and white break up the text and provide extra giggles. Add this to your collection along with the first book, Izzy in the Doghouse. Recommended.

Kat Hats by Daniel Pinkwater

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Kat Hats Incorporated is a special training facility where special cats learn to be “living hats” for specific purposes. These cats are rented out to mountain climbers, Arctic explorers and other extreme adventurers. It is owned by Matt Kats, his wife, Glamorella, and their children, Pocketmouse and Lambkin.

Their most prized cat is Thermal Herman 67/8ths, who is the warmest cat ever known (a good thing, since over 90% of the the body’s heat is lost through the head). In this story, it’s a good thing he wasn’t on an expedition, because he was sent on an emergency mission – to find and help Thirdbeard’s mother, Chickarina (the witch), who walked off licking a fruitsicle. He was worried that she might get a brain freeze. So, Thermal Herman 67/8ths hurried up the mountain, encountered his own adventures on the way and saved Chickarina in the knick of time by pretending to be a witch’s hat. She put him on and warmed up enough to save herself!

This very silly story is engaging, helped along by the outrageously colorful illustrations. Young readers will need to spend extra time on each page, because there is so much going on. Kat Hats is a goofy book and is sure to make kids wonder why the notion of Cat Hats hasn’t been invented yet.