Hornswoggled!: A Wacky Words Whodunit

by Josh Crute, Jenn Harney (Illustrator)

Overview

Deer wakes up to find one of his antlers is missing…and there’s a tennis racket in its place? One by one his friends also uncover that their important items from glasses to lucky boots have been swapped with silly, useless replacements like donuts and swim flippers. They’ve been hornswoggled! (Hornswoggled means tricked.) It’s pure poppycock! (Poppycock means nonsense.)

Once they gather together to find out what happened, will they find the true thief or be outfoxed? Laugh along with a hilarious cast of animal characters searching for the mysterious trickster in this humorous whodunit bursting with exciting, wacky words that kids will love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781645672845
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	11/23/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	664,257
Product dimensions:	8.85(w) x 10.55(h) x 0.35(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Josh Crute loves silly words like flabbergast and bumbershoot. He is the author of multiple picture books including Oliver: The Second Largest Living Thing on Earth and Jonas Hanway's Scurrilous, Scandalous, Shockingly Sensational Umbrella (both with Page Street Kids). He currently lives in Birmingham, Alabama.

Jenn Harney is the author and illustrator of Underwear! and Swim Swim Sink, and has illustrated numerous other books as well. Along with creating children’s books, she is a frequent contributor to Highlights for Children. She enjoys really really bad movies and set painting for a local high school. She lives in Ohio with her family and their corgi named Steve.

Editorial Reviews

"Kids will savor the silliness of this vocabulary-boosting treat, love rolling their tongues around goodies like bamboozled, and look for opportunities to use them [...] No snake oil here—just great fun." — Kirkus Reviews

"Laugh-out-loud funny illustrations join with a witty text to make a mystery forest romp an engaging offering, encouraging all who read it to broaden their vocabularies. Highly recommended." — School Library Journal, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 12/01/2021

K-Gr 3—Looking for a title to inspire young writers to add some zing to their writing? Trying to make the point that a broad vocabulary can make life more exciting, zestful, and engaging? Look no further than the mystery in the forest that is this hilarious title. Deer wakes up to find that one of his antlers has been replaced with a tennis racket. He's been hornswoggled! A helpful placard is held up to define hornswoggled and the game is afoot. One creature after another finds themselves the victim of theft (the catfish has been codswalloped, a bison has been buffaloed). Finally a clever detective with a nod to Hercule Poirot arrives only to find that he, too, has been outfoxed by the thief of the forest. Laugh-out-loud funny illustrations join with a witty text to make a mystery forest romp an engaging offering, encouraging all who read it to broaden their vocabularies. This title would make a great read-aloud for older elementary students who enjoy puns and witty wordplay. VERDICT Highly recommended this book is a delightful tribute to thesaurus use and rich vocabulary.—John Scott, Baltimore Cty. P. S.

School Library Journal

2021-08-11
Absurd words have a field day.

Deer wakes one day to discover that one of his antlers is missing—and has been replaced by a tennis racket. He’s been “hornswoggled!” He seeks aid from Catfish, who reaches for her glasses to better see what’s happening—and in turn finds that they’ve been replaced by two doughnuts (with sprinkles). “What a load of codswallop!” The pair troops over to other pals, all of whom discover to their annoyance that their belongings have also been stolen and replaced with nonsensical items. Each friend declares itself the victim of “poppycock,” “hogwash,” “horsefeathers,” and other dastardly offenses. When a skunk detective with a Belgian accent offers help but realizes his deerstalker has been replaced by a slice of pie, frenetic scurrying about ensues—until the culprit and purloined items are located. The thief has the effrontery to boast of her skill at fooling everyone, but there’s one final trick to be played….Kids will savor the silliness of this vocabulary-boosting treat, love rolling their tongues around goodies like bamboozled, and look for opportunities to use them. The targeted fun words are printed in boldface throughout and defined via explanatory signs (held up by an armadillo) on the pages where they occur or nearby. Some unfamiliar words or phrases go unexplained but should be understood through context. Droll cartoon illustrations match the expressive animal characters’ comic shenanigans.

No snake oil here—just great fun. (Picture book. 4-9)

Kirkus Reviews