Book of Bad Ideas, The [BARGAIN PRICE]

From Publishers Weekly
First time author-illustrator Huliska-Beith is so sure that every youngster hatches such plans as "bringing home a cute, cuddly, stray animal" or "jumping off the high dive to show off your itsy-bitsy bathing suit" that she relishes listing good ideas gone bad (in no particular order) from her own childhood in this playfully wacky picture book. From "Bad Idea #98: Cramming something into a tight space without knowing if you can get it back out" (she pictures a child with a goldfish bowl on his head, another with a lima bean up his nose) to "Bad Idea #828: Throwing a surprise party for your imaginary friend," Huliska-Beith's wry look at such simultaneously embarrassing and hilarious moments will have readers cracking up. A crew of kids, parents, pets and innocent bystanders cavorts across the high-energy spreads, each scene a comic melange of acrylic paint, fabric and cut-paper collage. At every turn, arms flail, kids wail and eyeballs roll amidst such backdrops as flying ice cream or marching ants that take over show-and-tell. After this romp, both kids and adults may well be ready to share some of their "bad" ideas, too. All ages. (Sept.) Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From School Library Journal
Kindergarten-Grade 3-Not your typical picture book. Huliska-Beith has compiled a list of "bad ideas" and through her humorous artwork shows the sometimes embarrassing, sometimes catastrophic results of putting them into practice. Readers can envision bad idea #11: "Jumping off the high dive to show off your new itsy-bitsy bathing suit." The illustration shows a red-faced girl in the pool with her bikini top floating nearby while the other swimmers look on in amusement. Other bad ideas include in-line skating with your disobedient dog, taking an ice-cream cone on a roller coaster, sticking something up your nose, and "parking your toy truck in the oven." The colorful full-spread drawings are done in a combination of acrylic paint and collage. There is much going on behind the scenes in these pictures and children will want to read through the book again to see what they missed the first time. This is a great read-aloud, after which listeners are sure to have some ideas of their own to relate (hopefully they won't get any from this book). A delightfully funny offering.Sheilah Kosco, Rapides Parish Library, Alexandria, LA Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.


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