Guess Again!

by Mac Barnett, Adam Rex (Illustrator)

Overview

From author-illustrator duo Adam Rex and Mac Barnett comes a wacky picture book that’s sure to keep you on your toes.

What’s got soft hair, hard teeth, and ears that do a flop?
Can you guess?
Are you sure?

Well, guess again!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416955665
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	09/15/2009
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	227,533
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 9.28(h) x 0.38(d)
Lexile:	AD440L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Mac Barnett is the author of the Brixton Brother series and several picture books, including Guess Again! and Chloe and the Lion (both illustrated by Adam Rex), and the New York Times bestseller Extra Yarn. He’s on the board of directors of 826LA, a nonprofit writing center, and founded the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers. Mac lives in Oakland, California.

Adam Rex is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich. His other books include The True Meaning of Smekday, which was made into the hit animated movie Home; Moonday; and School’s First Day of School, illustrated by Christian Robinson. He also illustrated the Brixton Brothers series, Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, Chloe and the Lion, and How This Book Was Made, all by Mac Barnett, and Chu’s Day, by Neil Gaiman. He lives in Tucson, Arizona. Visit him at AdamRex.com or follow him on Twitter @MrAdamRex.

Editorial Reviews

A funny, absurdist take on guessing game books from the team behind Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem, these silly rhymes avoid easy answers (a robot who hatches from an egg and cries “Cheep Cheep!” on the first page hints at the brand of humor in store). Beside a black silhouette of what appears to be a rabbit, Barnett's opening entry encourages readers to give a traditional answer to a four-line stanza: “His floppy ears are long and funny./ Can you guess who? That's right! My.” But turning the page, readers see not a bunny, but “Grandpa Ned,” shown standing on his head, his floppy gray socks providing the rabbit's lopped ears. What seem to be white sheep on a mountaintop are actually abominable snow monsters, Grandpa Ned appears again in a tree like the Cheshire cat and a dragonlike shadow that terrifies a knight belongs to a dentist. The playful tone is enhanced by cutouts, flaps and a triple-page foldout, but knowing the answers to the amusing visual/linguistic jokes may limit the book's potential for rereadings. Still, readers should find this twisted good fun. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2—The earliest indication that this is not your typical guessing game comes on the endpaper as a robot energetically hatches out of an egg. For each round of guessing, readers are presented with a page of Rex's oil-and-acrylic illustrations opposite a rhyming quatrain. The completely unexpected and delightfully off-the-wall conclusion of the verse's final line is revealed on the next page. The images are especially droll. A spread set in a kitchen with a die-cut hole in the wall suggests that what's on the other side is a little mouse: "Who climbs our counters and eats our cheese?/We've set up traps all through the house/But still can't catch that pesky…." Turning the page, readers will see that what they thought was a cute little mouse was in fact the repulsive toe of a huge Viking. This is an especially fun book to share.—Laura Butler, Mount Laurel Library, NJ

School Library Journal

A series of rollicking riddles with unexpected answers. In the first spread, the picture on the left apparently shows a rabbit in silhouette while the short verse on the right provides the clues: "He steals carrots... / His floppy ears are long and funny. / Can you guess who? That's right! My . . . ." Turn the page for the answer: "Grandpa Ned." (Ned's upside-down, with socks half-pulled off to resemble rabbit ears.) Grandpa Ned turns up twice more, as the answer to a riddle that seems to be about a cat and later as the setup answer to another riddle. The book's four other riddles involve a pirate, snow creatures, a mouse hole and a dark cave. A lifting flap and a gatefold add tactile interest. Rex's straightforward gouache-and-mixed-media illustrations downplay the mischief of the premise, appropriately lobbing visual softballs at an audience disoriented by the goof on a tried-and-true formula they've encountered over and over. In all, it's a refreshing (albeit slight) spoof for jaded young readers who have aced easy Q&A books; some may find it too cool for the room. (Picture book. 4-6)

Kirkus Reviews