I Didn't Do My Homework Because…

December 23, 2013
Chaud's crabbed pen-and-ink drawings give a distinctly Gothic sensibility to Cali's (The Bear with the Sword) sly collection of homework excuses. The narrator, a boy dressed in a suit and tie, negotiates with his teacher. "An airplane full of monkeys landed in our yard," he tries. Chaud (The Bear's Song) draws an army of monkeys invading the boy's study, swinging from the light, mussing his hair, and scattering his papers. "Elves hid all of my pencils," he offers. Things look good at firstâthe boy is in his place at his desk, his book open in front of himâbut closer inspection reveals two giddy elves underneath the desk with pencils sticking out of their ears and noses. "Giant lizards invaded my neighborhood," the boys says, as a huge alligator holds a school bus in its jaws, and a lizard nabs the boy's homework with its sticky tongue. The other 20 or so excuses and their illustrations are equally entertaining. Even children who don't yet have homework will long to try out a few of these wild explanations for themselves. Ages 6â9.

February 15, 2014
Who doesn't want to learn new excuses for unfinished assignments? That's just what this title offers--26 outlandish solutions to that "What to say?" dilemma. When a boy is questioned by his teacher about the missing homework, he thinks fast. The ideas fire in rapid succession, from being attacked by Vikings and hiding escaped convicts in his bedroom to giving his pencils to Robin Hood and sacrificing workbooks to heat his home. Chaud's ink-and-watercolor scenes vary from single- to double-page spreads, with simpler compositions than in The Bear's Song (2013), although there are some crowd scenes, as when the "famous director asked to use my bedroom to shoot his new movie." Cowboys, Indians on horseback and glamorous women make themselves at home, surrounded by the railroad track and film crew. Shades of red and green dominate the palette, lending a sense of uniformity to an otherwise diverse range of settings and characters. The combination of the boy's formal attire--a dark suit and bright red tie--and his long, unruly hair casts uncertainty as to his veracity, until the teacher pulls out the book from behind her back to reveal the same one in readers' hands; the game is up. Ultimately, "list" books wear thin, and this is no exception. It will likely be passed around, but repeated readings are not particularly rewarding. (Picture book. 5-9)

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March 1, 2014

Gr 2-5-This book consists of a list of excuses-entertaining, amusing, and implausible-for the absence of a boy's homework. The child's conflicts are familiar yet fresh: "A rebellious robot destroyed our house" and "We had a problem with carnivorous plants." Although there may be a slightly predictable feeling to the list, there is a surprising punch line at the end, which lends vibrancy to the tale. The Edward Gorey-style illustrations in pen, ink, and muted colors give the book a vintage charm. The giant lizards are reminiscent of Maurice Sendak's Wild Things. Each page is packed with overlapping images and detail, all in miniature, which will encourage careful observation and conversation. Cartoon lovers may be attracted to the whimsical alligator and dog on the cover. The diminutive size of the book and tiny illustrations make it most appropriate for individual reading, particularly for children who enjoy lingering on a page. The illustrator's humor is subtle, conveyed through meticulous sketches. Each page provides a small mystery as children try to find the missing homework among scenes of unfolding catastrophe. For example, a lizard's tongue stretches through the air like a giant slide on a playground; at the end of this bright red tongue is the book the boy was supposed to read. This well-crafted book should find an appreciative audience.-Jess deCourcy Hinds, Bard High School Early College, Queens, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2014
Grades K-2 A teacher asks her student why he did not do his homework, and he offers her enough excuses to fill a book, varying from the possibly plausible ( My sister's rabbit chewed up all my pencils and workbooks ) to the highly unlikely ( I gave my pencils to Robin Hood ) to the head-scratchingly inexplicable ( My brother had his little problem again ). The story crosses into metafiction when it is revealed that all those excuses do indeed fill a bookand the teacher has already read it. As a cautionary tale with hardly any story, this droll little book can be enjoyed for the cheek of the protagonist, the broad inventiveness of the excuses, and the scale of the whimsical illustrations (the giant lizards invading the neighborhood are a sight to behold). Chaud's illustrations have a retro look reminiscent of Edward Gorey, though quite a bit sillier. Readers may very well be inspired to try some of these excuses themselves, but the caveat could not be clearer: there's no fooling the teacher.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)