Publication Date: October 1, 2000 | Age Level: 3 and up | Grade Level: P and up | Series: Picture Puffins
First, his hair started falling out. Then skin started peeling from his toes. Some stuffing came out of his belly button, and a piece of something gray and wet-his brain?-fell out of his nose. Is this normal? Or is this boy coming unglued? With a perfect combination of humor and grossness, this look at one boy's farfetched fears will have readers laughing their heads off!
"A zany, ultimately reassuring take on something that may indeed be a child's bugaboo." -Booklist
Awards: ( 1999 Colorado Children's Book Award ( Pennsylvania Young Reader's Choice Award Masterlist
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Ages 5^-8. The poetry doesn't quite scan, but that's more than balanced by Arnold's unusual topic and his hilarious illustrations. A pop-eyed youngster is having a hard time. He seems to be falling apart. After losing a few hairs, he thinks he's going bald; his belly button lint is his stuffing coming out; "a chunk of something gray and wet" from his nose is none other than a piece of his brain; and a loose tooth puts him into shock. "Quite soon I'll be in pieces in / A pile without a shape. / Thank goodness Dad keeps lots and lots / And lots of masking tape." The gross factor is a key ingredient here, with Arnold exploiting it nicely in bold, comical illustrations that catch the full-blown anxieties of the imaginative narrator. When Mom and Dad intervene, little boy and audience alike breathe a sigh of relief. A zany, ultimately reassuring take on something that may indeed be a child's bugaboo. Stephanie Zvirin--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
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.
This offbeat book has become a great favorite. We routinely pack it on vacations because it's lightweight and because we can read it several times in succession without boring anyone. It's also a good bedtime book when you need something short. Jokes in the illustrations make them worth looking at more than once, as well. And despite the premise--that the boy is coming to bits--even our nightmare-prone younger child has never been adversely affected.
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I'm not sure who enjoys this book more - me or my son. The story of the little kid who thinks he's falling apart had be laughing like a fool when I first read this in the library of the school I was working in at the time.
We've become fans of Tedd Arnold since buying this book. Parts, as well as any of the Huggly books or Arnold's Green Wilma, are sure to please your little readers!
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5.0 out of 5 starsGreat! Hilarious!, March 12, 2002
By A Customer
This review is from: Parts (Picture Puffins) (Mass Market Paperback)
I bought this book not really knowing what to expect. I love it! My husband, on the onter hand, doesn't think he wants to read it to our daughter. She is too young for the book now, at 1 year old. It really addresses things that children tend to concern themselves with at one time or another -- in a very comical way! I thought it was great! I showed it to my mother (a second grade teacher) and she thought it was wonderful as well. She told my husband to "just wait!" Children can worry about the strangest things. If nothing else, buy it for yourself and get a good belly laugh!
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