Picture / Wordless
Age Level: 04-08
It is the first day of school. The first day of third grade. Between Mrs. Mousetrap's miserable spelling tests and the arm-twisting antics of smelly, candy-sucking Richard Newton, it's already looking ugly. Then comes recess—and Ramon: The World Yo-yo Champion appears with his awesome King Tut Royal Egyptian Yo-yo. Even Richard Newton is in awe.
With bobbing, humming, sparkling speed, Daniel Pinkwater and Jack E. Davis draw us into a dizzyingly satisfying tale of yo-yo success.
Review:
"'Third grade is going to be ugly,' moans the anonymous narrator of this caper, a sort of self-esteem parable souped up on comedy. 'Cinnamon-Red-Hots-candy-sucking' Richard Newton, who has already twisted his arm, snags the seat behind him, and poodle-haired Mrs. Mousetrap starts right in with spelling and math tests. But at recess the mood begins to change when an exuberantly ducktailed impresario who goes by the moniker Ramon: World Yo-Yo Champion sparks a schoolwide yo-yo craze. Not only does he decide to become a 'yo-yo go-go, with yo-yo know-how' (and, 'for good measure,' a master speller who can 'make mincemeat out of Mrs. Mousetrap'), but he also discovers that inside his bully is a big baby bawling to get out. Pinkwater knows in his bones how kids think and talk, while Davis's sweetly grotesque cartooning conjures up a motley crowd of supporting players, most with their own loopy personalities. As in The Picture of Morty and Ray, these two wits can keep an audience agreeably suspended. Ages 4-8. (July)' Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)" Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)
Synopsis:
It is the first day of third grade and its already looking ugly. Then comes recess--and Ramon, the World Yo-Yo Champion, appears with his awesome yo-yo. And, when the great Yo-Yo Tournament is announced, yo-yo fever really begins, in this dizzyingly satisfying tale of yo-yo dexterity. Full color.
