Chester van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme

by Avery Monsen, Abby Hanlon (Illustrator)

Overview

From the coauthor of the smash hit All My Friends Are Dead and the creator of the beloved Dory Fantasmagory chapter book series comes a hilarious read aloud about a boy who loses his gift for rhyme.

There once was a youngster named Chester van Chime
Who woke up one day and forgot how to rhyme.
Chester loved rhyming, in poem or song.
It always felt right, but today it felt...not right. VERY not right.

Chester van Chime is usually the BEST at rhyming. He can normally tell you all about cats wearing hats and snails delivering mail, but today, something has changed. Today there's no dog on a log. No duck in a truck. Just a Pomeranian on a sideways tree and a waterfowl in a full-size pickup. What's a kid to do?!

Filled with irresistible wordplay and whimsically silly illustrations, bestselling creators Avery Monsen and Abby Hanlon's read aloud tells the story of a boy who learns not to be stressed if he's not at his...tippy-top peak performance.

Praise for Chester van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme:
 
*"Your next Best Storytime Book…It’s a must-read, a hit, a guaranteed good time…Poor Chester van Chime may have lost the ability to rhyme, but young readers will lose themselves to giggles…”―Bookpage, starred review

*"His rhyming groove returns as aural fits and starts turn to fluid, welcome rhyme, and the whole town celebrates. What starts out as a book about wordplay turns into an inventive and giggly antidote for the bad-day blues."―Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"Monsen’s clever text offers both lexical fun and an important lesson: “This too shall pass.”…Hanlon’s busy gouache and colored pencil illustrations are full of attention-grabbing slapstick humor…Well-timed page turns will have kids shouting out the missing, but easily guessable, end rhymes…Get ready for wordplay that’s giggly and fun and lasts long after the story is [over]."―Kirkus

“Hilarity crescendos as wordplay plummets, until Chester realizes we all have bad days.”―The New York Times

An Amazon Best Books of the Month for March 2022

A Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award Recipient 2022-2023

An Amazon Best Books of the Year So Far for Ages 3-5 for 2022 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759554825
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	03/15/2022
Pages:	40
Sales rank:	71,156
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Avery Monsen is the author and illustrator of I Am the Longest Dog, and the coauthor I Feel Relatively Neutral About New York, K is for Knifeball, and the national bestseller All My Friends Are Dead. As an actor he has appeared on 30 Rock, The Tonight Show, High Maintenance, Maron, Adam Ruins Everything, and Alexa & Katie.

Abby Hanlon is the author and illustrator of the award-winning Dory Fantasmagory chapter book series, which has been translated into twenty-one languages and selected by the Junior Library Guild. As a New York City public school teacher, she wrote and illustrated her debut picture book, Ralph Tells a Story, which is now used widely in elementary classrooms. Abby lives in Brooklyn with her husband, twins, and scruffy dog, Caroline.

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/24/2022

Freckled, pale-skinned Chester van Chime is completely discombobulated when he wakes up realizing he’s lost the ability to rhyme. In one of this picture book’s many clever linguistic misdirections, Monsen (All My Friends Are Dead, for adults) writes, “See, Chester loved rhyming, in poem or song./ It always felt right, but today it felt...//...not right. VERY not right.” As Chester makes his way to school, rhymes everywhere seem to taunt him. Gouache and colored pencil art by Hanlon (the Dory Fantasmagory series) depicts a goofy, fairy tale–like landscape defined by visual rhyme gags, including a “Shoe Zoo” (the animals inhabit a giant boot), a goat in a boat, and much more (the endpapers provide clues for any stumpers). Concerned, Chester’s classmates try to draw rhymes out, showing him objects associated with a series of words; in Chester’s state, however, cat is “tiny lion” and rat is “extra big, mousy-lookin’ dude.” But on the way home, Chester, relieved and relaxed, has a revelation. His rhyming groove returns as aural fits and starts turn to fluid, welcome rhyme, and the whole town celebrates. What starts out as a book about wordplay turns into an inventive and giggly antidote for the bad-day blues. Ages 4–8. Author’s agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. Illustrator’s agent: Elena Giovinazzo, Pippin Properties. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for Chester van Chime Who Forgot How to Rhyme:
 

*"Your next Best Storytime Book…It’s a must-read, a hit, a guaranteed good time…Poor Chester van Chime may have lost the ability to rhyme, but young readers will lose themselves to giggles…”—Bookpage, starred review

*"His rhyming groove returns as aural fits and starts turn to fluid, welcome rhyme, and the whole town celebrates. What starts out as a book about wordplay turns into an inventive and giggly antidote for the bad-day blues."—Publisher's Weekly, starred review

"Monsen’s clever text offers both lexical fun and an important lesson: “This too shall pass.”…Hanlon’s busy gouache and colored pencil illustrations are full of attention-grabbing slapstick humor…Well-timed page turns will have kids shouting out the missing, but easily guessable, end rhymes…Get ready for wordplay that’s giggly and fun and lasts long after the story is [over]."
 —Kirkus

“This colorful picture book has many elements that primary school children will enjoy…This is an ideal interactive read-aloud in an elementary setting.” —School Library Journal

“Hilarity crescendos as wordplay plummets, until Chester realizes we all have bad days.”—The New York Times

An Amazon Best Books of the Month for March 2022
A Florida Sunshine State Young Readers Award recipient 2022-2023
An Amazon Best Books of the Year So Far for Ages 3-5 for 2022 
An Indiana Primary Read Aloud pick for 2023
A Smithsonian Magazine Ten Best Children's Books of 2022
A Redbud Read-Aloud Award winner
A Texas Library Association 2x2 Award winner
A Good Housekeeping Best Kids' Books of 2022 pick
A 2022 LAPL Best Book
A 2023 Bank St College Best Books pick
A 2023-2024 Utah Beehive Award nominee
A 2024 North Carolina Picture Book Award nominee
A2024-25 South Carolina Book Awards nominee

From the Publisher

03/25/2022

K-Gr 3—Chester van Chime has always been an expert rhymer and lover of words. One day, though, he wakes up and forgets how to rhyme! Chester has trouble getting himself ready for the day but becomes even more distressed at school. When he arrives, his classmates all try to help remedy his rhyming woes, but to no avail. During his walk back home, Chester learns to see the people and world around him in a new way. While doing so, will he remember how to rhyme? This colorful picture book has many elements that primary school children will enjoy. The watercolor pictures depict Chester in all of his disoriented glory throughout the day, e.g., he can barely get himself dressed! This is an ideal interactive read-aloud in an elementary setting as students will want to help complete the sentence with the correct rhyming word. VERDICT With a positive message at the end—"We all have bad days"—the story of Chester is one readers will appreciate; he's a relatable, funny character they will want to see again.—Kerra Mazzariello

School Library Journal

2021-12-16
Cheerful endpaper illustrations of rhyming word pairs set the stage for this hilarious jab at the nursery-rhyme format.

One day, Chester wakes up and discovers he has lost his special talent—he can no longer rhyme! The text quips that “it baffled poor Chester. He felt almost queasy. / To match up two sounds, it was always so . . . / . . . simple for him.” A disheartened Chester walks to school through a neighborhood populated by classic European nursery-rhyme and fairy-tale characters—there’s a troll under a bridge, a butcher, a baker, a candlestick maker, and more. At school, Chester’s classmates try to help him get his rhyming groove back by staging a show and tell with a cat, bat, mat, hat, and even a rat. Poor Chester can only come up with amusing placeholder names—a bat is a “swingy sports stick,” a mat is a “muddy foot wipe,” and so on. On his way home, he observes community members performing various jobs and has a revelation that puts things in perspective. Monsen’s clever text offers both lexical fun and an important lesson: “This too shall pass.” Well-timed page turns will have kids shouting out the missing, but easily guessable, end rhymes. Sharp-eyed observers will also notice that the shops in the artwork have rhyming names. Hanlon’s busy gouache and colored pencil illustrations are full of attention-grabbing slapstick humor. All characters are light-skinned or ambiguously brown.

Get ready for wordplay that’s giggly and fun and lasts long after the story is…over, alas. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews