Furious about being teased and taunted for his round, bald body and bad habit of falling off walls, Humpty Dumpty is wreaking havoc throughout Mother Goose Land. With hilarious illustrations and clever wordplays, Kevin O'Malley stands Mother Goose on her head, creating a world of nursery rhyme characters never seen before. IRA-CBC Children's Choices, 2002 Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award, Masterlist, 2002-03 South Dakota Prairie Pasque Children's Book Award, Masterlist, 2002-03
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
When mild-looking Mr. Hatchery opens a volume of nursery rhymes, glum children mutter, "Boring." They don't anticipate his turning "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into an overwrought tale of an "egg-ceedingly large Humpty Dumpty" terrorizing a Mother Goose town. Mr. Hatchery envisions Humpty behaving like an ovoid Godzilla, demolishing a one-room schoolhouse and growling, "I'm huge, and I'm not gonna take it anymore.... `Oh, look, the tubby bald eggman is falling off the wall, haa, haa, haa. ' I'm back, baby." Old King Cole, a lazy guy with Groucho Marx's mustache, crouching walk and merry reputation, calls for reinforcements. Peter Piper "pitched pickled peppers until he was positively pooped," but neither he nor the Muffin Man fail to scramble their foe. Humpty ransacks their Shakespearean-era city while chortling, "London Bridge is falling down!" O'Malley (Bud) takes broad liberties with familiar rhymes and bombards his audience with bad puns. His resolution lays an egg (swanlike dowager Mother Goose placates Humpty with an Elvis wig and a rockabilly career), but his story-hour-gone-awry frame works well. O'Malley's winking allusions recall Margie Palatini's self-conscious zaniness, and readers who enjoy the corny jokes can join Mr. Hatchery's listeners, who laugh uproariously. Ages 6-10.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Gr 1-3-This book attempts to enter the same part of fractured fairy-tale land that has been so triumphantly conquered by Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's The Stinky Cheese Man (Viking, 1992). A boy's father comes to read to a class as part of "Read Across America Day" and when the teacher leaves to go to the teachers' lounge, Mr. Hatchery proceeds to tell the class eggs-actly what happened to Humpty Dumpty. The huge egg is bent on destroying the whole universe inhabited by nursery-rhyme characters-"That's right, I'm huge and I'm not gonna take it anymore.-Did anybody ever think how painful it would be to have a horse try to put you back together? No. So I'm back, baby." Mayhem follows, underlined by O'Malley's humorous rounded illustrations and a dialogue based on traditional nursery rhymes: "`I've got it!' barked Old King Cole. `Do you know the Muffin Man?' `The Muffin Man?' asked Jack. `The Muffin Man! Do you know the Muffin Man?' asked the king. `Oh sure,' said Jack, `he lives on Drurey Lane.'" O'Malley has done clever versions of traditional texts, but this effort, which ends with Humpty playing Elvis in a nightclub act, is too scrambled to be delicious.
Kathleen Whalin, York Public Library, ME
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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More About the Author
Illustrator Kevin O'Malley has written and illustrated a number of books, including "Little Buggy Runs Away" and the Miss Malarkey books by Judy Finchler. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
the eggman cometh,
By "ncteacher" (Cary, NC United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Humpty Dumpty Egg-Splodes (Hardcover)
This may be the funniest book on the planet -- and if you have an 11 year old in your house it's a must-have. Humpty Dumpty, tired of being called the "bald, skinny eggman" is on a rampage in Mother Goose Land, and nothing the other nursery rhyme characters do seems to help until Mother Goose flies back into town. Part of the charm of the book is in the fact that Mr. O'Malley has hidden a sheep on every page (check out the reflection in Mr. Hatchery's glasses, and the king's ermine robe) along with a number of other characters making a cameo appearance: three blind "mice", the butcher and the baker (too bad the candlestick maker gets swept overboard), and the old woman's shoe, to name just a few. Lower grades will enjoy the wild antics, but it will take a 4th grader or above (including middle schoolers) to truly appreciate the zany antics of Humpty and his crew. My 5th grader says, "Mr. O'Malley writes picture books for big kids" -- she's right!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Nursery Rhymes Gone Wild.....,
This review is from: Humpty Dumpty Egg-Splodes (Hardcover)
It's Read Across America Day and Mr Hatchery has come to school to read The Nursery Rhymes of Mother Goose to a class of fourth and fifth graders. As he begins the story with Mary had a Little Lamb, the kids squirm and yawn and are bored to death. That is, until Mary runs into Humpty Dumpty, who's grown very large and very angry. It's not easy being tubby and bald and always falling off walls. He's had enough of Mother Goose Land and he's not going to take it anymore. Mother Goose is out of town on vacation, so it falls to Old King Cole to fix this situation before it's too late. Unfortunately he's not too smart, just merry, but he calls in reinforcements, Peter Piper, The Muffin Man, Jack Be Nimble, to name just a few, from lots of nursery rhymes to help, while they wait for Mother Goose to get back and get control of her bad egg..... Kevin O'Malley has written a very clever and hilarious story, full of old familiar characters, that will charm and delight youngsters of all ages. His text, full of wordplay, puns and silly jokes is only outdone by his marvelous, bold and expressive artwork. Kids will be mesmerized as they watch the chaos grow with each page turn, as Humpty Dumpty gets angrier and wreaks havoc on all who cross his path. Perfect for readers 7-10, or as a family read-aloud book, Humpty Dumpty Egg-Splodes is a wacky, laugh-out-loud romp that shouldn't be missed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Very funny twist on nursery rhyme characters,
By
This review is from: Humpty Dumpty Egg-Splodes (Hardcover)
I thought this book was a hoot. My kids (4 & 8 y.o.) laugh hysterically each time we read it. This is a very amusing version of what happened when Humpty Dumpty finally had enough of being the fat bald guy who breaks apart at the end of the story. He goes around Mother Goose land exacting his revenge on all the other characters. Good light-hearted reading for youngsters who may be a bit tired of the basic Mother Goose tales.
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