Who Ordered the Jumbo Shrimp? (Hardcover)

by Jon Agee (Illustrator) "A NEAR MISS!..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Palindrome collector Agee (Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog!) turns his attention to oxymorons in this witty compendium. He pairs 60 illogical sayings like "Near Miss" and "Sharp Curves" with his own loosely drawn, duotone illustrations; as the cover image of a sofa-size "jumbo shrimp" demonstrates, his pleasure from oxymorons depends on observational humor, a la George Carlin or Jerry Seinfeld. In the picture for "Civil War," a knight apologizes for beheading his opponent, while in "Good Grief," a man roars with laughter at the gravesite of someone named A. Dork. "Drag Race" shows pedestrians pulling souped-up cars, and "Industrial Park" pictures a fenced-in factory where a child tries to fly a kite. Agee shows the irony in such terms as "Down Escalator" and "Great Depression," and alerts readers of all ages to the many cliches of the English language. Not every one of these New Yorker-style cartoons is a hoot, but that's okay: surely Agee wouldn't want to start a laugh riot. Ages 9-up.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal
Grade 5 Up-This collection of oxymorons, illustrated with spirited black-and-white cartoons, offers readers a great way to understand the concepts while giving them a good laugh. Some of the ideas and illustrations are sophisticated, e.g., "permanent temp," "stiff drink," "Great Depression," but middle schoolers involved in the study of language and interested in the meaning of words will find this appealing title to be highly amusing.
Pamela K. Bomboy, Chesterfield County Public Schools, VA
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9-12
  
• Hardcover: 80 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins; 1 edition (October 3, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062051598
• ISBN-13: 978-0062051592
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,143,336 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars the master of wordplay strikes again!, April 12, 2001

By	Chess Heart "paxbear" (Cattauraugus County, NY) - See all my reviews

Oxymorons are, of course, words or phrases that are inherently contradictory: "jumbo shrimp", for example. Jon Agee has taken everyday phrases that so easily fall from all our lips and made us realize how delightfully ridiculous they really are. A scorched and burned man stands at his refrigerator while fire shoots from the top compartment. Why, it's FREEZER BURN, of course!! How about a group of drivers pulling their racecars?? Yup, you got it: that's DRAG RACE for you.

Mr. Agee is perhaps better known for his children's books, "Dmitri the Astronaut" and "If Snow Comes", but he's also a master of wordplay, with three other books of palindromes (words or phrases that are spelled the same way forward as backwards) and a book of anagrams (words that can be spelled with the same letters: "Elvis Lives"). These books of oddities of English would be as at home in a classroom as on the living room shelf. Indeed, as a teacher, I often pull one or two of his works into class to get the creative juices flowing with my students as they try to compose their own anagrams, palindromes and oxymorons.

While the book is by no means complete--there are hundreds of oxymorons--it is one of the few published books of contradictory phrases and certainly the only one I know that is illustrated! While I would have liked to see some of the more "controversial" ones (you know, the one's that might--GASP!!-- offend someone, like "military intelligence", "friendly fire" or "athletic scholarship"), the book is definitely recommended to add to your collection, whether you're a wordsmith or not.

14 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A funny, well-thought out book of amusing oxymorons., May 15, 1999

By A Customer

Who Ordered the Jumbo Shrimp? is a hilarious book. When I first opened it, it didn't look to funny. But as i got into it, I began laughing out loud at the ones like, "Poor Little Rich Girl," where the rich girl "hasn't had decent caviar in two days, please help. $50, $100, $200 donations. VISA and EMAX excepted." All in all, this a great book to read if you want some good laughs, and if you are looking for a book to stick your nose in. (I gaurantee that once you start, you won't put it down untill you have read the back cover)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A laugh-out-loud funny selection of visual and verbal gags, June 5, 2002

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

This review is from: Who Ordered the Jumbo Shrimp?: and Other Oxymorons (Paperback)

Jon Agee's Who Ordered The Jumbo Shrimp? And Other Oxymorons is a delightfully humorous book that brings classic contradictory phrases like "freezer burn", "concrete jungle," "inherited debt" and more to life with the simple, stylistic black-and white cartoons of the wryly talented Jon Agee. A laugh-out-loud funny selection of visual and verbal gags and an ideal giftbook for anyone who enjoys a quick read and a good chuckle.