The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups: The Second File [Hardcover]

David Wisniewski (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 5 and up | Grade Level: 1 and up | Series: Top Secret (Hardcover HarperCollins)

Urgent!It's happened again!

David Wisniewski has completed another daring raid into the vault of parent rules. Within these forbidden pages lurk the real reasons why grown-ups want you to brush your teeth, eat your breakfast, and clean under your bed. The truth has been hidden for centuries, but the time of mystery is over.

Grab a flashlight! Get under cover! It's time for ...

The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups!
The Second File

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Caldecott Medal winner David Wisniewski is back, with a second helping of secret information about the real reasons behind parental rules and commands. Brush your teeth because it prevents cavities? Naaaw. By breaking into the National Dental Association (disguised as the Tooth Fairy), Wisniewski has discovered that kids should brush their teeth because not doing so causes... unrest: "Reckless incisors cavort with Ginger Vitus... Pulp Rocker Tommy Rot sings inflammatory lyrics...." Yes, Wisniewski crams in every possible pun, and his inimitable style of paper cut-out illustrations is the visually punning equivalent. The underlying idea here is fun, but it remains a mystery as to why adults would have a global conspiracy to conceal explanations that are, in the end, just more imaginative versions of the ones they do give. For example: kids should avoid junk food not because it's plain bad for them but rather because it causes each CFG (Cruddy Food Group molecule) to steal a bit of your brain and "drive it to an abandoned warehouse in an unpleasant industrial section of your body." Ordinary parental advice with a fancy hat on? Maybe. But fans who found themselves privy to the first "classified folder," The Secret Knowledge of Grownups, will be tickled with round two. (Ages 6 to 10) --Richard Farr

From Publishers Weekly

David Wisniewski continues his conspiracy theory in The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups: The Second File, explaining to youngsters the "real reason" that grown-ups want them to eat a good breakfast (otherwise your stomach "throws a tantrum") and not watch TV late at night ("so the actors can take a break!"). Once again, Wisniewski's meticulous cut-paper illustrations underscore his comical words of caution.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 5 and up
  
• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; First Edition edition (July 31, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688178545
• ISBN-13: 978-0688178543
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 9.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #355,790 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I had to buy three copies, December 18, 2001

By 

Carol Watkins "Psychiatrist" (Parkton, Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups (Hardcover)

One of my children brought this home from the library and all of us were quickly convulsed with laughter. We had often joked with our kids about the "real reasons" that we asked them to do things, but David Wisniewski did a much better job of expanding and illustrating these types of fantasies. I decided to buy two--one for each of my office waiting rooms. However, my kids could not bear to part with one copy so I got three. Some of Mr. Wisniewski's scenarios get mentioned regularly around our dinner table, "Eat your vegetables so they won't eat you--I think I see a claw coming out from your salad!"

Sometimes I use this book to illustrate more serious issues. Conflicting agendas: When a family has a problem, the parents and the children often define the problem differently and have different hopes for the outcome. Power differences: Young children may see adults as having secret information and mysterious conversations behind closed doors. This book helps parents and kids look at these issues gently and laugh about them. This may soften the way toward discussing a family's conflicts and differing points of view.

The illustrations are excellent detailed cutouts. They are bold and dramatic. He makes use of multiple textures to give the cutouts a 3-dimensional fee. Some of the pictures are "gross." If you pick your nose, your brain may deflate. But the "gross-out" factor is funny, not scary or violent.

I get the sense that the author must be a funny, kind individual. I wish he could come to my son's school to teach a class on cutout art.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Conspiracy theories and laughter, July 1, 2001

By 

Marcy L. Thompson (Sammamish, WA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups (Hardcover)

This book is remarkable on many levels. First, it is a whimsical and cute idea, executed beautifully. Second, it works as a satire on the conspiracy theories which surround the modern reader. Everyone I have shared this book with has loved it, even those adults who normally don't find anything useful or charming in children's books.

Highly recommended for people of any age.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Secret Knowledge Of Grown-Ups, May 27, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups (Paperback)

This book was a great book if you want some excitement and laughter. Of course it isn't true, although I had to question myself about that at first. The rules David Wisniewski (author) talks about in this book are rules you've probably heard your parents say a million times. Now, (if you read the book), you'll know the reasons why parents say these rules. The reasons David Wisniewski makes up are funny and seem so real. They'll make you laugh. The exciting part is that these reasons are parts of secret files that haven't ever been shown to kids before. Also, the illustrations are lively and colorful. They are interesting and the fun to look at. You won't be able to put this book down, and you'll never get tired of reading it. Every time I read it, it makes me laugh. (The author, David Wisniewski, is a Caldecott Medal winner.)