Common Sense Media Review
Tongue-in-cheek tale might misjudge its audience.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 4+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
A collection of common (and not-so-common) expressions, altered with clever homonyms, then depicted literally in pictures, to zany effect. The text is just the idioms, but the humor is all in the delightfully goofy artwork. Kids enjoy the verbal play, and thinking up their own versions.
Is It Any Good?
The major drawback to this chucklefest is the discrepancy between those who will enjoy Gwynne's ingenuous visual humor and those who will understand the words or expressions he's punning. Youngsters will be amused by a plant draped with firearms, for example. But will they understand -- or even want to understand -- the difference between pistols and pistils? And what percentage of the four-year-old population is going to crack a smile at the picture of a girl sewing banners and the accompanying text: "In Sunday School they say when you are bad you should do pennants"?
With younger kids, you can expect this book to generate little interest -- or a lot of questions -- and therein lies its strength: as a provocation to delve into the suppleness of language and the joys of wordplay. Older kids who can be convinced to give it a look are often delighted.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the meaning and origins of a silly-sounding phrase like "pigeon toed" (which, to the human ear, sounds just like the "pigeon toad" mentioned in the book's title). Parents can also explain that these words and phrases are called homonyms and idioms, and can talk about the differences between the two concepts. Are there any homonyms you can think of that aren't mentioned in the book? What about idioms? Which illustration was your favorite? Why?
Book Details
- Author :
- Illustrator : Fred Gwynne
- Genre : Words
- Book type : Non-Fiction
- Publisher : Simon & Schuster
- Publication date : June 1, 1990
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 4 - 7
- Number of pages : 32
- Last updated : July 12, 2017
Did we miss something on diversity?
Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by
Suggest an Update
Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.
See how we rate