Guess Again! by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex - review

Guess Again! by Mac Barnett, illustrated by Adam Rex

 

He steals carrots from the neighbor's yard.
His hair is soft, his teeth are hard.
His floppy ears are long and funny.
Can you guess who? That's right! My

[turn the page]

Grandpa Ned.

This book will KILL at a kindergarten storytime. That's a fact, Jack. Take it to the bank, Frank. Goofy is as goofy does.

And speaking of what goofy does, let me address something. There are a batch of reviews on Amazon written by parents of two-year-olds, and in those reviews, those parents are a bit up in arms about the way that this book misled their children. "It seems somewhat odd that we parents spend so much time teaching our kids to think logically, do puzzles, problem solve, etc. out comes this book that sort of throws them off by giving them the completely unexpected," reads one.

YES. Humor is what separates bigger kids from little kids, and subversion of expectations is one of the fundaments of humor. You ever notice how little kids can't make up jokes? Until small children develop a basic vocabulary of expectations and consequences, they don't really understand humor. Although - don't email me - they are certainly funny people. And laugh at funny things. It's just that they're busy populating their cause-and-effect encyclopedia, and when you get in the way of that, they don't. like it. I remember being extremely pissed off at Pippi Longstocking (and ooh, that's a nice edition of Pippi, illustrated by Lauren Child? Match made in heaven!) when I was very small, because what Pippi did just DIDN'T MAKE SENSE.

But once they are well on their way to getting a firm grasp on what you can expect from the universe, you get a little leeway. Bark, Georgeis my favorite example of a funny book for a three-year-old. It's the first book of subverted expectations that a little kid will "get". The vet asks puppy George to bark, and George says "Quack." And the three year old's face goes "OH MY GOD. YOU GUYS! Did you see that? That's MESSED. UP! Dogs don't say 'quack,' they're supposed to say 'woof'! And he says 'quack' because there's a duck down his throat! How did that duck get down there! HUMOR!!! Wow my mind is totally blown right now. Read it again."

I paraphrase, of course. But little kids are like Mork, I swear. Mork would NOT GET Guess Again!. But a six-year old, and certainly a seven year old? Will. Should. And what's more, I think it's good for 'em. I think that the unexpected is good exercise for the brain.

I was talking this out with my husband and our friend Rebecca the other night, and Rebecca remembered this article in the New York Times, "How Nonsense Sharpens the Intellect", about studies that have shown that exposure to the unexpected triggers heightened brain activity, in particular, better pattern recognition. Look at that! See, I was pretty much just coasting along, developing a theory out of thin air, and professional research psychologists back me right up! Woo!

(Oh crap did I forget to compliment the art? I love the art. It's Adam Rex, people. Composition, color, watercolor technique, expression... Adam Rex can paint an argyle sweater and give it personality and depth.)

Comments

[Jennifer]

I can back this up with ACTUAL EVIDENCE. I read this to various groups of 1st and 2nd graders on school visits last month. They were nuts about it! I could hardly read it, they were so engrossed in screaming out answers, arguing with each other over what it would be, and falling over laughing and groaning when I turned the page. I probably won't try it on my preschool group, but this is going to be a school visit staple for years to come, along with Billy Twitters. We loves our Barnett!