Once Upon a Banana - Softcover

Armstrong, Jennifer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0689859511 ISBN 13: 9780689859519

Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books, 2013

Synopsis

Everyday street signs act as deadpan captions for the slapstick happenings in this ingenious picture book that is hilariously told in street signs. Go!

The sign says: “Put litter in its place.” But someone isn’t paying attention. He drops a banana peel on the ground—and a series of comical slips, spills, and falls are set hilariously into motion. First the grocer, then the painter, next the bicycle messenger, and then—oh, no—not the baby in the carriage! An entire town turned upside down, all by a banana peel!

Caldecott Medalist David Small and award-winning author Jennifer Armstrong have created a roller-coaster ride of a picture book told in rhyming street signs that will tickle and delight readers from beginning to end, over and over again.

About this title

About the Author:

Jennifer Armstrong is the author of numerous award-winning picture books and novels. Her works include Hugh Can Do and Chin Yu Min and the Ginger Cat (both ALA Notable books); The Dreams of Mairhe Mehan (a BCCB Blue Ribbon Book); and Black-Eyed Susan (a New York Public Library Best Book). Her first novel, Steal Away, was an ALA Best Book for Young Adults, an ALA Notable book, and a Golden Kite Honor book. Other titles include Pockets, Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World, Magnus at the Fire, Photo by Brady, and Once Upon a Banana. She lives in New York State.

David Small is the Caldecott Award–winning illustrator of So You Want to Be President? by Judith St. George. He also received Caldecott Honors for The Gardener by Sarah Stewart and One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo. He’s illustrated dozens of other award-winning books, including That Book Woman by Heather Henson and The Underneath by Kathi Appelt, and lives in Michigan with his wife, Sarah Stewart.

From School Library Journal:

Starred Review. PreSchool-Grade 4–In this hilarious book, a monkey's craving for a banana turns the streets of a busy city upside down. The mostly wordless tale is told through rhyming street signs and delightfully detailed watercolor paintings. On the first spread, a juggling performer, dressed in a motley jester's costume, watches as his wild-eyed monkey runs away. The creature heads down the street and bounds into a bin filled with bananas. While the grocer rails at the monkey's owner, the animal runs across the street clutching his prize. Next, it tosses the peel onto the sidewalk near a trash-can sign that reads, Please Put Litter in Its Place as a motorcycle sputters past with two tough-faced riders. After pulling over under another sign (No Parking in This Space), the pair dismount, and, of course, the driver slips on the peel. When this and future mishaps occur, suspense, thrills, chaos, and comedy result. Readers will soon understand that all of the background characters–small figures holding cell phones, Rollerblading, pushing baby carriages–will soon be drawn onto center stage. The book ends with an aerial map of the city block and a key identifying the locations of the signs, allowing kids to retrace the action. A glorious escapade packed with child appeal.–Susan Weitz, formerly at Spencer-Van Etten School District, Spencer, NY
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About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0689859511
• ISBN 13: 9780689859519
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 48
• Illustrator: Small David