People say the strangest things: Give me a hand . . . Hold your tongue . . . Scream your lungs out . . . What if a kid wants to keep all of his body parts in place? Well then, he'll need to take some creative-and side-splittingly funny-action.
In this knee-slapper of a follow-up to the award-winning Parts, Tedd Arnold brings to visual life some of our very silliest figures of speech. But be careful, readers: This clever book just might make you laugh your heads off!
For fans of Parts, Tedd Arnold returns with More Parts, continuing the theme of twisted idioms that strike fear in the heart of the uninitiated child. For example, when Dad asks his son to "Please give him a hand!" the bug-eyed boy is shown holding his unhinged appendage by the thumb.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From School Library Journal
Gr 1-4-Through zany, brightly colored illustrations and rhyming verse, Arnold explores common figures of speech that amaze and frighten a young boy. "I'll bet that broke your heart," "give him a hand," "Hold your tongue," and "jumps out of his skin" are only a few of the sayings that worry the protagonist, whose imaginings are energetically depicted in colored-pencil and watercolor washes. Goofy, cartoonlike artwork explores the deepest recesses of the child's overwrought and overworked imagination. Kids will love faces cracking, lungs being coughed up, and bodies flying apart. Vivid color and a robust artistic style will attract younger children who may not get the joke, but older children and parents will. Singsong verses in hand-lettered text strain to rhyme in some instances, with a forced, uneven gait. Although the boy's parents reassure him, the story ends where it begins. The father, who "didn't mean to be unkind," tells the child that they were afraid that he'd lost his mind. The final drawing has the boy's brain falling out of his head and onto the floor. This story is like a wild and crazy, totally manic Amelia Bedelia. Children will ask for it again and again.
Alice Casey Smith, Sayreville Public Schools, Parlin, NJ
Born in Elmira, New York, Tedd grew up in a family of six with three brothers. His family lived on a farm in Pennsylvania for several years then returned to Elmira until Tedd was ten years old. His father's work then required that they move to Gainesville, Florida. There, Tedd's first art lessons in an abandoned dentist's office over the Happy Hour pool hall eventually led to a fine arts degree from the University of Florida. He and his wife, Carol, started their family in Tallahassee where Tedd worked as a commercial illustrator. Carol, a Kindergarten teacher, drew Tedd's attention to children's books. Their first son, Walter, inspired his breakthrough picture book, No Jumping on the Bed!. His second son, William, now stars in No More Water in the Tub!, a sequel to his first book. He has now published more than 30 books as author and illustrator. When not working on his books, Tedd's interests include tennis, sketching, reading, coin collecting, and the computer."The inspiration to begin writing and illustrating for children came from my wife, Carol. As a kindergarten teacher, she collected picture books. I was attracted to their colorful pages and the way the words and pictures played with each other, much like the captioned cartoons I had drawn when I was young."Perhaps the biggest surprise of my career as an author is that I'm now going back to elementary school! Visiting young readers in classrooms and libraries is something I love. Kids keep me on my toes and they ask a lot of questions. The number one question seems to be, 'Where do you get your ideas?' It's also the hardest question to answer because every idea is different. Some ideas seem to pop out of thin air -- while I'm in the shower or walking the dog. Others come from reading or research. But most of my ideas come from my family and the things they do and say."For instance, one time when my first son, Walter, was five years old, I found him lying on the couch, looking pale as a ghost and clutching a Bible to his chest. He was praying! When I asked what was wrong, he wouldn't answer. In fact, he wouldn't even open his mouth. My wife, Carol, finally coaxed a response from him: he pointed inside his mouth. Carol exclaimed, 'You have a loose tooth!' Walter's eyes nearly popped out with fright. We quickly assured him that it was perfectly okay for his tooth to come loose and that a new one would replace it. But Carol and I looked at each other and realized that despite all our efforts to be good parents, we had somehow completely forgotten to warn Walter that teeth fall out! He had thought he was falling apart! I made a little note in my journal; then ten years later, I expanded that memory into my book Parts."Tedd Arnold lives in Elmira, New York, with his wife, Carol, two sons, Walter and William, two cats, Cody and Frankie, and one dog, Hershey.
Our young narrator tells us: "Things are bad-and getting worse!/Each day it's something new./With all the stuff I hear about/I don't know what to do." Why just yesterday his toy truck wrecked and his mother consoled him by saying, "I bet that broke your heart." He didn't even know hearts could break apart. Maybe wearing a big pillow will keep it safe. And then his dad asked him to please "give him a hand." He didn't know hands came off, so he decided he'd better wear gloves and use lots of glue to keep them on his arms..... Ted Arnold has really outdone himself with this clever picture book that explores figures of speech. His witty, rhyming text is full of energy and humor and complemented by marvelously bold and expressive artwork depicting each worrisome idiom. Youngsters will laugh out loud as they watch the narrator try to "keep his head together", "hold his tongue", "scream his lungs out", and "jump out of his skin." In the end, his parents reassure him by explaining that these figures of speech are just descriptive expressions. But the story ends just where it began when dad adds that he's glad they cleared up this misunderstanding, "We thought you'd lost your mind." Perfect for youngsters 6-10, More Parts is a delightful, very visual, manic romp that shouldn't be missed.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
This book is hilarious-and oh- my 5 year old son loves it too!!The pictures of a little kid imagining what adults in his life could possibly mean as they tell him to "hold his tongue", or could he please " give his father a hand", are wondeful-I don't know who laughs more, my son or myself!!Enjoy this book!!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Our kids (7, 3 and 2) LOVE this book! They laugh every time we read it together - which is often. So often, in fact, that our 3 year old has most of it memorized. The story is about a little boy who becomes very concerned about some of the strange things he hears the adults around him saying, like "Hold your tongue!" and "Please give me a hand!". The illustrations of these idioms are hilarious! Bravo to Tedd Arnold for a very entertaining book for kids and adults!
Warning: This book is ONLY for parents who don't mind reading the same book over and over again! My 3 year old is sitting next to me as I finish this review, repeating parts of 'More Parts' and asking me if we can read it AGAIN! :-) We highly recommend 'Parts' also. The two together would make a great gift! We're not so crazy about 'Even More Parts' though.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
