Palindromania! [Hardcover]

Jon Agee (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

The ultimate celebration for the palindromic year 2002!

What exactly is "palindromania"? It's the inability to see the word STRAW without thinking WARTS. It's the powerful impulse to reverse the name OPRAH to make it HARPO. It's the uncontrollable urge to buy A TOYOTA. It's an obsession with words and phrases that read exactly the same forwards and backwards. And now, in his most entertaining and extensive volume, Jon Agee, the prime purveyor of palindromes, has taken this unique word phenomenon to a whole new level. Featuring themed sections, comic-strip-style stories, and even lengthy monologues, Agee's collection of over 160 familiar and unfamiliar palindromes paired with all-new masterly cartoons is a treasure for word-lovers young and old.

Palindromania! is a 2003 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Even the price is a palindrome in Jon Agee's latest witty collection, Palindromania!, the fourth title in a series that started with Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog! The oblong edition runneth over with clever b&w cartoons. "In the Garden" imagines an offbeat Biblical encounter ("Eve?/ Sir, I'm Iris./ Madam, I'm Adam"). In another panel, a solo pill bottle is labeled "Lonely Tylenol."
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4 Up-In his fourth collection of palindromes, Agee continues his love affair with the English language. The first page is a dedication to "MOM" in mammoth, "stone" block letters. Like the previous books, the pages are filled with whimsical black-and-white drawings of absurd or nonsensical situations. Some of the approximately 170 palindromes are monologues, some are comic-strip stories, and others are simply descriptive situations. From "How Palindromes Are Formed in the Atmosphere" to "AIBOHPHOBIA: Unusual Fear of Palindromes," readers are treated to rib-tickling, humorous stories, often with a subtle message to decipher. In "In the Garden," Adam asks a woman, "Eve?" She responds, "Sir, I'm Iris." After exhibiting a look of surprise, he responds, "Madam, I'm Adam," exuding an expression of supreme confidence. The pen-and-ink drawings give visual clues to the words. Even famous personalities, living and dead, or well-known logos cannot escape Agee's sometimes satirical pen. This book will invite students to join his comical, visual, and verbal train ride through the land of palindromes.
Linda Wadleigh, Oconee County Middle School, Watkinsville, GA
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux (BYR); 1st edition (October 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374357307
• ISBN-13: 978-0374357306
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,776,557 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars John Agee did not have a lot to work with here., September 13, 2009

By 

L.M.G. "jokerles" (Brunswick, Ohio USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Palindromania! (Sunburst Books) (Paperback)

I love palindromes. This is probably the Jon Agee palindrome book I like the least. "Go Hang a Salami I'm a Lasagna Hog" and "So Many Dynamos" were a little more complex and more entertaining. I love Jon Agee's drawings but in "Palindromania" there was less good material to work from, I believe. Still fun to have and to share with others.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Palindromania: More excellence from Jon Agee, December 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Palindromania! (Hardcover)

This book is 112 pages of entertaining cartoons of palindromes. Jon Agee creates whimsical one to four panel stories in which all sentances are palindromes (the same forwards and backwards) and then illustrates them to bring them to life. If you enjoy palindromes, this is the perfect item for you.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A whimsical, fun gift for the English major, January 10, 2003

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Palindromania! (Hardcover)

Palindromes form different words when considered from left to right or right to left (e.g., dog/god). This zany collection provides words or phrases which read the same forward or backward, pairing the zany phrases with entertaining comic strip cartoons. A whimsical, fun gift for the English major.