A silly, fun version of the game “telephone”—in which a grocery list committed to memory goes playfully awry. One day, Vincent’s mother asks him to go to the store to pick up a few items: “a bunch of carrots, a box of rice, some China tea, a big, firm pear, and a tin of peas” to be precise. “And hurry home in time for tea!” she says. Sounds easy enough. Yet distractions are at every turn, causing havoc with Vincent’s memory. All of a sudden, a tin of peas is replaced by a trapeze; a big, firm pear becomes a big furry bear; and a box of rice transforms into a box of mice! Needless to say, Vincent’s mother is in for quite a surprise. Told with a playful rhythm for reading aloud and illustrated with exuberance and great child appeal, this humorous picture book will have kids laughing and asking for repeated readings.
There are so many great things about this book! With pages alternating between town and country settings, it is a repeating list run playfully amok. The Madcap illustrations are boldly colorful and fun, with crazy things to spot on each page. The young boy, sent to the store with a list of items to get for his mother gradually makes silly substitutions. As the substitutions become increasingly wacky, it can be fun to predict what may come next.
Jo is a UK-based author and illustrator, and graduated from Cambridge School of Art with a Master’s in Children’s Book Illustration. Her first book, Rabbityness, was nomiated for 8 awards including UKLA Book Awards 2013 and Kate Greenaway Medal 2013, and her second book,Never Ever has been awarded a Kirkus Star and was nominated for the Kate Greenaway Medal.
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