On Account of the Gum

July 15, 2020
A series of silly and mostly unsuccessful solutions for removing a blob of bubble gum. Conversational rhyme, cascading action, and dramatic page turns create a story of early-morning, get-ready-for-school chaos. Gum-wrapper endpaper illustrations collaged under a bubble gum-pink wash set the tone for escalating silliness that begins before the title page with illustrations of a kid falling asleep after blowing a bubble and ends a page turn after the last words. A narrator, never seen but ever helpful ("Okay: / We went on some websites. / And all of them swear...") and increasingly harried ("All right, let's get serious -- / this is the plan: / We blow the gum out with a powerful fan. / Plus every few seconds we'll pop a balloon"), will try anything to get the gum out: grass, a cat, noodles and bacon, a vacuum cleaner, a steaming pot of chili, and more. Full-page headshot illustrations capture the child's reactions, including priceless eye rolls, fearful bug-eyes, and glassy-eyed resignation, until an unexpected solution stops the chaos in its tracks. The kid presents White, as do many depicted family members, but one, an older sibling perhaps, has brown skin. The punchline--that it's school-picture day--arrives just in time to generate a fresh gale of giggles as the protagonist sits sans gum but with everything else still entangled in that hair. A gloriously giggly tale glued together by a glob of very gooey gum. (Picture book. 4-8)

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August 24, 2020
Snappy second-person verse (“That’s the gum./ Right there./ That you got in your hair”) enumerates a family’s vain efforts to remove a blob of shocking pink bubblegum as Rex (Unstoppable) dreams up ever-grosser remedies for the hairy dilemma. The victim is an adorable mop-headed child who falls asleep while blowing gum bubbles in bed, and subsequently glowers as hands reach in to sprinkle and smear it away. First met with scissors and two sticks of butter, the child’s curls pile high as an aunt in a golf visor contributes grass cuttings, and “Your grandpa,/ who said that your/ aunt was mistaken,/ is mostly to blame/ for the noodles and bacon.” Pets (a rabbit to nibble the grass, a cat to frighten the rabbit) and even appliances follow, racking up a pile on the kid’s gummy pate. Rex’s digital portraits of the child employ a feathery, pastel effect, a surprisingly soft counterpoint to the frenetic action offered by comically exaggerated adults. Though the ending sails off a cliff abruptly, those who are in it for the laughs won’t care. Ages 5–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House.

Starred review from September 1, 2020
Grades K-3 *Starred Review* We've all been there. You go to sleep with gum in your mouth and wake up with it in your hair. But this time, as your father tries the usual tactic of cutting it out, the scissors get stuck in your hair, too. Pretty soon, your whole family is offering creative ideas, and before you know it you have butter, grass, bacon, a rabbit (to take care of the grass), a cat (theoretically, to chase the rabbit) and a vacuum cleaner (to scare the cat) in your hair. It's a real sticky situation. That's why the firemen have come with their hoses and the cops are pulling up to the house. Rex's work is always humorous, smart, and delightfully absurd, and this is no exception. The hand-painted text has beautiful artistry to it, but it's also a tongue-tangling, deliciously metered, rhyming absurdist story that begs to be read aloud in classrooms, libraries, and homes. His trademark semi-realistic, brilliantly detailed, oil-style painting is captured here in selective bubblegum pinks and spearmint greens, and, while the child's expressions are masterpieces in and of themselves, Rex's attention to detail stretches from the gorgeous endpapers that contain their own contributions to the story all the way to the conundrum's unexpected resolution. This book is a belly laugh per page and a joy-inducing treat.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Rex is king of the picture books. Consider this required reading.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)

November 13, 2020

PreS-Gr 1-When a child goes to sleep with gum in their mouth, it seems inevitable that the gum will end up in their hair. The natural next step is to seek advice on how to remove the gum, from the Internet and family members, which proves to be disastrous. As objects accumulate in the child's hair, they become more and more frustrated. To make matters worse, it is not only the child's birthday but also school picture day! Like his other titles, such as Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, Rex serves a delightful and laugh-out-loud read. This interactive take is great for a read-aloud as the reader becomes the narrator and engages in dialogue with the protagonist. The timing is perfect, as the page turn lands the punchline. The illustrated facial expressions of the gender neutral, pink-skinned child perfectly reflect their growing annoyance and upset as a cat, noodles, and a vacuum end up on their head. The textured pictures pop from the page with vibrant colors, often a bright bubblegum pink background, and the endpapers offer a collage of bubble gum wrappers. VERDICT A grand comedy that will engage readers and please Rex's many fans. -Kaitlin Malixi, Bucks County Free Library, Doylestown, PA

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