Silly Book

New York, New York, U.S.A.: Doubleday, 1990. First edition. From Publishers Weekly In spite of the promise of this book's title, nothing could prepare the reader for the wackiness inside. The well balanced combination of text and artwork engenders utter lunacy on a scale that defies description. The rhyming text holds more to a concept than to an actual story line. "Silly hats are there to hide / some very silly heads / inside!" is accompanied by a picture of several odd people losing their hats in a windstorm, only to reveal that their weirdly contorted heads are in the exact configurations of the hats that blew off. Short anecdotes of the exploits of truly silly people are enhanced by numerous sight gags; the illustrations teem with odd contraptions that must be examined closely to savor their intricacies. Cole's original brand of humor and offbeat point of view are only two of the rewards to be gleaned from this delightful free fall from sanity. Ages 4-8. Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal From the daffy sheep springing across the endpapers to the sheep-suited child (wearing his wool suit) at the end, Cole packs a stack of silliness between the covers of this book. In a series of vignettes, a parade of people and an animal or two show off goofy walks, heads, pets, food, and behavior. Held together by the occasional appearance of the child narrator, the book is a collection of observations in verse on the foibles of the ordinary and nonsensical in life. Cole's brightly distinctive watercolors portray the shenanigans with her usual broad strokes of absurdity. The double- and single- page spreads, large type and format lend themselves to use with groups, although beginning readers will enjoy this book too. Although the situations aren't quite as knee-slapping as Marc Brown's Pickle Things (Parents, 1980) or Morrison's Squeeze a Sneeze (Houghton, 1977), there is still enough high-spirited fun to keep older preschoolers and independent readers chortling along. --Marge Loch-Wouters, Menasha Public Library, WI Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. . First Edition. Hard Cover. Fine/Fine. Illus. by Color Illustrations.