Customer Reviews

Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog!

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Palindromes. Hard to write, fun to read, especially in the expert hands of Jon Agee.

A palindrome is a word or phrase that is spelled the same way forwards or backwards, as in "Go hang a salami! I'm a lasagna hog!", which has to be one of the longest and most complicated palindromes in existence.

Mr. Agee has collected some fantastically fun and funny palindromes in this collection illustrated by the author. There is a picture of a lion on a sunny beach with a bottle of "lion oil" behind him. Winnie the Pooh is doing the hula hoop (it's "Pooh's hoop", of course!!). My personal favorite (and an exceptionally long palindrome) is of an inventor in a room full of switches, gadgets and wires. In the middle of the room sits a tiny box playing music. He exclaims, arms out, "I madam, I made a radio! So I dared! Am I mad, am I?!" Go ahead, spell it backwards...

In a world where good English skills are swiftly becoming a rarity and few folk seem interested in grammar or word games, Mr. Agee's book is a breath of fresh air. At times, the illustrations fit the palindromes so perfectly that you almost forget that these are special sentences that are quite difficult to create, and the read more like a comic strip.

Kudos to Mr. Agee for not only playing about with words to create Palindromes, but for publishing some for those struggling folk (like myself) who can't seem to come up with any of our own!! Readers may also want to check out his other book, "So Many Dynamos!"

Both the text and drawings of this book will have you in stitches, and keep you wondering. While seemingly simplistic, the small phrases like "FLEX, ELF" accompanied by a drawing of a dwarf desperately trying to muster up to large cloned muscle men are absolutely hilarious. If you love words, language, and a sharp wit, this is the book for you. Truly one you will want to return to again.

Both the text and drawings of this book will have you in stitches, and keep you wondering. While seemingly simplistic, the small phrases like "FLEX, ELF" accompanied by a drawing of a dwarf desperately trying to muster up to large cloned muscle men are absolutely hilarious. If you love words, language, and a sharp wit, this is the book for you. Truly one you will want to return to again.

this book is found in one of my local libraries and it helps me to get out of my adult depressions. I'm especially enamored of the guy in the Chinese Restaurant who's asked by the waiter, "Wonton?" and his reply is "Not now!"

A palindrome is a word or phrase that can be read from left to right like DEED, POTATOP, and the titles of two of Jon Agee's other books: SIT ON A POTATO PAN,OTIS! and SO MANY DYNAMOS! These little marvels are entertaining, amusing, clever, and incredibly difficult to create. Try writing a few of your own to see for yourself the thought and effort required to give birth to these linguistic gems.
Pairing his palindromes with his appropriate black and white cartoons gives life to the palindromes, flesh to the bones, and layers of humor and meaning not readily evident in the bare words.

I like every one of the illustrated palindromes in this book, but like everyone else I have a few favorites. Most of the palindromes that impress me have a preposterous picture scene accompanying it or an impressive length of words and/or letters. The title palindrome illustrated on the cover is depicted again on the inside of the book with a two pager. On the inside title page we see a chubby boy, fork in hand, running towards a colossal plate of lasagna. Preposterous? Ridiculous? Funny? Yes. Yes. Yes.
The School Library Journal recommends this book for grades six and up; it requires the mental gymnastics and reasoning skills of an older, more capable reader. They suggest that Gifted and Talented students will have a field day with this book, and I agree.

The palindromes themselves are terrific, but many of the cartoons standing alone are monkey barrels of fun and amusement.

This is the kind of book one reads multiple times, often to find surprises in the cartoons missed the first time around.

Even the price listed on the back cover is a palindrome. Good luck finding a new copy for that price.
This book's measurements of 5.3 by 8.1 by .5 inches are also palindromic. Incredibly its perimeter dimensions are exactly the same when measured clockwise or counterclockwise!

I thoroughly enjoyed this linguistic lollipop that ends too soon; it's satisfying to the last lick, lingers languidly on the palate, and whets one's appetite for more Jon Agee treats.

Both the text and drawings of this book will have you in stitches, and keep you wondering. While seemingly simplistic, the small phrases like "FLEX, ELF" accompanied by a drawing of a dwarf desperately trying to muster up to large cloned muscle men are absolutely hilarious. If you love words, language, and a sharp wit, this is the book for you. Truly one you will want to return to again.

For wordplay fans, it's a fun book. An orchestra conductor begins to conduct with a banana, and a cellist cries out: "Not a banana baton!" Each page contains the like. It's a very short and amusing book.

I have loved this clever book of palindromes ever since I got in in elementary school about fifteen years ago. This hilarious book is chock-full of inventive palindromes, which are each accompanied by a great black-and-white drawing. One of my favorites shows a little girl in a karate outfit, standing next to her karate instructor. Her mom is there, as well. The palindrome says, "Amy? Must I jujitsu my Ma?"

Also, check out Jon Agee's latest book on word-play, Orangutan Tongs: Poems to Tangle Your Tongue.

The palindrome of "Wonton Not now" was the most memorable in the whole book. However, I've come up with a palindrome for Mr. Agee to add to any subsequent books on the subject. It is a picture of a college co-ed clothed in a college sweatshirt which reads "NOIT U." She's got a bubble above her head which has a picture of a heart and a dinosaur in it. The palindrome would read "NOIT U LOVE EVOLUTION!"