Daniel Pinkwater

If you loved The Hoboken Chicken Emergency as much as I did, you will be delighted to read this eccentric companion novel. My favorite thing was that there was a character named Sean Vergessen, because that's the punchline of a Yiddish joke my grandmother used to tell. ("Sean Vergessen" sounding like the Yiddish for "I forgot.") My only complaint is that if Daniel Pinkwater is going to describe so many Classic Comics I wish he would have mentioned The Black Tulip, which is my favorite.

Larry's shenanigans at the local ice cream shop lead him to unexpected celebrity in this fourth book about the adventures of the lifeguard polar bear of Bayonne, New Jersey. When our ursine hero eats 250 pounds of ice cream at Cohen's Cones, the resultant publicity leads to a partnership with the Iceberg Ice Cream company, and the development of the "Larry Bar."

With all the hilarious dialogue and droll artwork for which this series is known, Ice Cream Larry should delight the Pinkwaters' show more many fans. I myself was thrilled to see a few Melville references here, from Larry carrying a copy of Moby Dick around with him, to his answering Mildred's requests with an "I would prefer not to." A humorous children's book which quotes Bartleby the Scrivener? It doesn't get any better than that! show less

I love Daniel Pinkwater and, since the Juniors are studying weather, I decided to read it along with Uma Krishnamswami's "Monsoon," and the Barrett's "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," and Aardema's "Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain." I save Pinkwater for last because it is ridiculous and hilarious and I love to see the kids' expressions when Mr Submarine spots the United States Marine Band out in the rain. This is a silly book (like most of Pinkwater's) with rich illustrations and a warm show more heart--highly recommended. show less

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.
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"I've been to see the ghosts,” she said.

"And how was that?” the Guru asked.

"Hoo boy! You won't believe what goes on in that old churn factory. They’ve got a whale in there!”

“An actual whale?”

“It’s the ghost of a whale, and may I say, it’s a whale of a ghost.”

WHAT'S CRAZY IN POUGHKEEPSIE ABOUT?
Mick comes home from two weeks at summer camp to find out that his brother's trip to Tibet to find a personal guru ended show more up being much shorter than anyone expected. He did find a guru—Guru Lumpo Smythe-Finkel—and that guru came home to Poughkeepsie with him. The guru and his dog will be sharing Mick's room for a while.

Mick's life is sure different afterward—the guru takes him under his wing (or tries to) and they spend most of the daytime together. Mick also picks up a couple of friends—a would-be graffiti artist, who tags buildings with warnings of environmental/health dangers and a quirky young woman (who probably isn't crazy) who lives in trees.

Before the summer year is out, Mick will play a ghost flute, attend a ghost party, meet people a whole lot stranger than anyone I've mentioned so far, see a dog use a stuffed rabbit to help a car navigate, and things too strange for me to summarize in this way.

HOW WERE THE ILLUSTRATIONS?
They were fittingly odd. I enjoyed them and thought they added a nice little bit of seasoning. They're not essential to the text, they're a pleasant accent.

I really liked the ghosts—the whale in particular. I think drawing ghosts among and around some of the living has to be a challenge, and I like Renier's approach.

I do not have a lot of experience with parties, almost none, in fact, if you don’t count little kids’ birthday parties with the paper hats and the cake and ice cream. This means I don’t personally have a basis for comparison, but I feel safe in saying that a party with ghosts is completely unlike any other party anyone may have been to.

SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT CRAZY IN POUGHKEEPSIE ABOUT?
This is a wonderfully weird story. The absurd moments flow effortlessly from one to the next. As always, I'll not that seemingly effortless moments obviously are the result of effort, skill, and talent.

I haven't read a Pinkwater book since...wow. The 1980s? I don't think he's missed a step—some of the jokes feel a little dated—do people still do the plastic covering on furniture?. But maybe not (although when I was a kid I think I wondered the same thing). Either way, most of them are fresh or evergreen. Jokes aside, there's a sense of ridiculousness running throughout this that has to appeal to readers young and old—especially those who embrace life's quirkiness.

The plot is on the lean side, but it's not the important part. This book is about the journey, not the destination—and it's a fun ride (to a pretty good destination, I should add). It's been too long since I've spent time with this author, I need to fix that.

Also, any MG book that's both amusing and uses the word "obstreperous" casually is worth a read. show less