29 Bump Street

This is the story of some tools (e.g., Penny Plane, Mike Hammer, and Walter Wrench) stuck in the basement, yearning to taste the comforts of the upstairs life. Meanwhile, the upstairs appliances, including Blake Blender, Suzie Seltzer Bottle, and Calvin Coffeepot (the latter looking suspiciously like Thelonious Monk) contemplate cleaning the neglected, sink-clogged, slimy kitchen. But before they do, the downstairs tools stage a coup d'etat (or de kitchen, as it were). The victorious tools devise ways to make lunch and clean up, while the appliances tackle the filthy basement, with the not-so-startling conclusion that it takes different tools working together to clean a house. The fun is primarily the loopy picture style that recalls Disneyland's Toon Town, and the groanfully corny puns of the tools: "`Hey Walter Wrench,' said Penny Plane, `remember the time you fixed that drippy faucet?' `Yep, I really had a grip back then . . . '" and "`Heck, I bet we could run the kitchen!'" hammered Mike. Our little boy loved this book, and it's great fun to read out loud. Worth looking for!