Duncan Rumplemeyer's Bad Birthday

This is a story of a typical young boy, part good, part brat. The story is rather funny and fun to read and certainly teaches the consequences of poor choices. This illustrations are not really my cup of tea, but are eye catching in their own way and I certainly cannot be all that critical of them as it is my taste in this case and not the child's who is reading the book. The kids at school seem to like it and that is a pretty good indorsement to my way of thinking. It is indeed, as on reviewere pointed out, a good teaching tool and I am quite comfortable using it as such.

I think it's a funny book with a good ending. It's about a 7-year-old who questions logic and hates sharing, even argues that it's not a good idea, but that's the lesson of the book. There are many springboards for other lessons about eating, opening presents, social laughter, etc. Favorite quotes... "Why do [adults] laugh when something isn't funny?" "Chocolate cake is delicious and chicken tastes boring, so why do you have to eat all of your chicken and not all of the cake?" "Sharing makes no sense at all. Why share? If a toy is fun, why let go of it? Who knows when you'll get it back?" "I was lying in bed, dreaming a nice dream, when all of a sudden I woke up and thought, Presents are in this house." "I didn't want to say something that wasn't true, so I told him, "No." Then he got mad at me, too." "Flora kept wanting to TOUCH everything. I told her to back off. My mother gave me a look." "I even invented a new rude noise that sounded kind of squishy. But there was no one there to hear it. If you make a rude noise and no one hears it, is it still gross?"

I love this book. As the parent of three small children who has been through my fair share of "bad" birthdays, it rings true and is funny and sweet. I highly recommend it.