Once Upon a Cool Motorcycle Dude (Hardcover)

by Kevin O'Malley (Author, Illustrator), Carol Heyer (Illustrator), Scott Goto (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Gr. 3-5. A girl and a boy create a fairy tale in this lively picture book. The girl starts first, with a story about a princess and her eight ponies, while the boy interjects comments: "Please . . . don't call [the pony] Buttercup." When the boy has had enough, he steps in with a sword-wielding, motorcycle-riding hero who battles a giant, while the princess is assigned the boring job of making thread. Fed up with these developments, the girl delivers the final plot twist, turning her princess into a warrior who sends the giant scurrying back to his cave. The fun in this picture book comes in the contrasting styles of the illustrations, which include contributions from Carol Heyer and Scott Goto. The girl's story features bright colors, flowers, and long golden locks, while the boy's story is done in the dark, taut-muscled style of comic books. Throughout, O'Malley depicts the girl and the boy^B reacting to the twists of the plot. A funny take on the age-old battle of the sexes, with an ending suited for the new millennium. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Description
Once upon a time there was a boy and a girl who had to tell a fairy tale to the class, but they couldn't agree on the story. Will they all live happily ever after? Once upon a time there was ...a princess ...a cool muscle dude ...who loved all her beautiful ponies. ...who rode an awesome motorcycle. ...But a giant came and started stealing them! ...The dude came to fight the ugly, smelly giant with his mighty sword. ...She turned gold into thread while she cried for Buttercup, her favorite pony. ...And he took the princess's gold thread for payment. The end!

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Walker Books for Young Readers (April 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802789471
• ISBN-13: 978-0802789471
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #27,778 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud funny, May 23, 2005

By	Materexlibris (Alaska) - See all my reviews

I am an elementary school librarian and read this book to sophisticated sixth graders. They laughed out loud, and demanded an immediate second reading. The story is told in two alternating voices, and with each turn one story teller tries to trump the other. The illustrations are eye-popping and dazzling.
We followed the read-aloud, with a stab at our own creation by alternating boy and girl voices. Our story ended with a pop star performing at the Oscars wearing a designer dress laced with itching powder.
If you are a librarian, you will want multiple copies for your collection. If you are a classroom teacher, you will want one to stimulate storytelling. And, if you have a reluctant reader, s/he will gobble this one up.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Our current top-requested bedtime book, June 15, 2005

By	J. Gardner "nyspacegirl7" (Flushing, NY, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is my first review, but my sons (5- and 3-yrs old) are such big fans of this book that I felt compelled to share. The unconventional format in which this fairy tale type story is told, with the competing boy and girl narrators, coupled with the variety of illustation styles to complement who is narrating at the time make this a favorite bedtime book. Also the way it is written makes it fun for me to read, which is good, seeing as I've read so many times. All around a FUN, FUN book to share with your kids.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Tale of Two Storytellers . . ., February 7, 2008

By	Shanshad "shanachie_shadowfax" (Discworld) - See all my reviews

So here I am wondering what to read to my jaded fifth graders. They don't go in for the ultra serious, they yawn through the books beloved of second and third graders. They groan when I mention poetry or nonfiction. And then this book falls into my lap. One read through and I'm hooked--and so is my fifth grade audience! Kevin O'Malley has brilliantly joined artistic forces with Carol Heyer and Scott Goto to create a book that is a commentary on story telling, the battle of the sexes, and a great graphic novel picture book yarn!

The premise of this tale is easy to absorb; two characters, a boy and a girl (probably classmates at school) are telling the readers their own made up fairy tale. Each takes a turn at the story, and offers commentary on their partner's part of the tale. The girl starts off with a flowery story of a princess and her ponies and the giant that comes and steals the ponies away. No prince seems up to the challenge. At this point, our male narrator has become heartily sick of the way the story is being told and takes over the narrative. No prince may be up to beating the giant, but a motorcycle-riding Dude with a sword just might be able to win the day. The boy continues on with his tale of action and adventure and finishes off the tale--leaving the princess doing nothing but spinning gold thread. The female narrator has her own idea of how the story should end, and it takes some work for the two to come together on an ending that satisfies them both and delights listeners. The narrative is broken into actual story text, and dialog bubbles, combining traditional picture book style with graphic novel sensibilities. This book will most likely appeal to readers already familiar with comics and graphic novels and who will be delighted to find a picture book in the same format. While this break up of text can be challenging to read aloud, older readers will have no problem following the story on their own.

But the text is hardly the whole story. The pictures are what make this book so delightful, and hysterical. A veteran artist and illustrator of over 25 children's books, Kevin O'Malley's flair is found in the cartoon style boy and girl that speak in dialog bubbles that appear throughout the main fairy tale, offering extra commentary. Mr. O'Malley's characters speak directly to the audience, breaking the fourth wall and pulling the readers/listeners into the story crafting experience. Carol Heyer is an award winning fantasy artist who has illustrated several fairy tale books for children and her talent shines through in gorgeous romanticized images of a lovely princess and her ponies. Everything is in royal hues shaded to pinks and purples. The pictures are lovely, but very "girl" and extremely saccharine--which the readers will figure out fast enough. The menacing giant doesn't look all that mean or foreboding, and the princess inhabits that "magical fairyland" quality that would be at home in most "girl-centric" advertising. Carol Heyer knows just how to play this up without making the pictures themselves comical or caricatures--they're lovely, but funny as hell when added to the text. Scott Goto also has a fantasy background to his art, but his style is bold, sweeping over the whole page and defining itself with strong colors. His Dude has a modern touch that hints of world wrestling while still managing to capture a more Conan-like spirit in the battle. Goto's giant is monstrous and hideous--in keeping with the male narrative of grossness. "And his breath smelled like rotten, moldy, stinky wet feet!" The combination of these styles as our narrators battle for control of the story highlights the differences and encourages the laughter, while giving some great artwork for the reader to enjoy. Some of this stuff would be at home in any high fantasy collection!

This book manages to highlight what could be considered traditional differences in the way male and female narratives are handled. The girl's narrative focuses on emotions and names of the ponies and more descriptive elements of the text while the boy focuses on action and big events without necessarily finishing the narrative tale. It takes both of them working together and taking elements from the other's story to come to the conclusion. Of course nothing remains in agreement for long! I will be the first to admit it is a hard book to read aloud. If you're really good at voices and humor however, this book is the perfect read for older, more cynical listeners. It took me several tries to get it to read well, but now it's the book that all my kids request. They love hearing it as much as I love telling it!

Those who enjoy this book might want to take a look at the Captain Raptor series also by Mr. O'Malley. Likewise, "Mars Needs Moms" by Berkely Breathed may appeal with its similar whimsy and powerful illustrations. And don't miss "Superhero ABC" by Bob Macleod. This comic-book style art alphabet book is sure to please those with a love of action heroes and humor.

Happy Reading! ^_^ Shanshad