Night of the Living Worms (Speed Bump & Slingshot Misadventure Series #1)

by Dave Coverly, Dave Coverly (Illustrator)

Overview

What's a bird to do when his sibling is a big-time celebrity? It's a question Speed Bump has to deal with every single morning because his brother happens to be the one and only Early Bird. You know, THE Early Bird, who ALWAYS gets the worm! Unfortunately, Speed Bump is a sleepy little bird with a big head and tiny wings who's worried he'll never live up to his brother. But he has a great buddy, the ever-hungry Slingshot, who knows how to lift his spirits. Together, they end up on an adventure deep in the nighttime forest, where they're forced to confront something more terrifying—and slimier—than they've ever imagined. It could all go horribly wrong . . . or it could just change Speed Bump's luck for good.

Night of the Living Worms is a laugh out loud adventure that's perfect for younger readers. From award-winning cartoonist Dave Coverly, the hilarious, zany illustrations and addictive humor of this chapter book series will be sure to delight.

"Dave Coverly is ridiculously funny and clever and creative. I'm jealous of his bird brain." -Stephan Pastis,New York Times-bestselling author of the Timmy Failure series

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250090508
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	10/18/2016
Series:	Speed Bump & Slingshot Misadventure Series , #1
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	144
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 7.90(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	7 - 10 Years

About the Author

Dave Coverly is an internationally syndicated cartoonist whose Speed Bump cartoons appear in more than four-hundred newspapers, including the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, and Parade. He is the illustrator of Sue MacDonald Had a Book and The Very Inappropriate Word. The winner of the prestigious Reuben Award for Best Cartoonist, Dave lives in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Editorial Reviews

An Amazon Editors' Best Book of the Month
A Florida Sunshine State Young Readers' Award Selection

"Dave Coverly is ridiculously funny and clever and creative. I'm jealous of his bird brain." —Stephan Pastis, New York Times-bestselling author of the Timmy Failure series

"Coverly’s drawings are full of visual jokes, and the narrative is packed with playful language. . . . Clever, imaginative, and precisely targeted to its audience, this new series is sure to please." —Booklist

"Filled with subtle irony, wordplay, and gentle pokes at life, the text is accompanied by appealingly large, cartoon-style, black-and-white line drawings . . . This story will have students laughing out loud and reluctant readers asking for the sequel." —School Library Journal

“The jokes and birdy banter come fast and furious . . . and should keep readers flying through the pages.” —Publishers Weekly

"Both [pictures and text] are liberally festooned with gags, sight gags . . . and puns." —Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

07/27/2015
Avian puns and scatological humor drive this first title in an illustrated chapter book series from cartoonist Coverly (Dogs Are People, Too). Scraggly b&w illustrations help introduce Speed Bump, a stumpy, late-rising bird who can never beat his older brother, Early Bird, to the worm. Coverly establishes an irreverent tone from the outset, when Speed Bump is awakened by a “little bird tweeting” (on its smartphone). After Speed Bump and his id-driven friend Slingshot discover that vicious worms are conspiring against Early Bird, the small bird gets a chance to be the hero. The jokes and birdy banter come fast and furious (“They hatched plans, but got eggsasperated because they knew none of them would work.... All of their ideas to stop the Nightcrawlers were as terrible as their puns”), and should keep readers flying through the pages. Ages 7–10. Agent: Melissa Chinchillo, Fletcher & Company. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

07/01/2015
Gr 1–3—This first chapter book series from Coverly, an internationally syndicated cartoonist whose "Speed Bump" cartoons appear in more than 400 newspapers, and the winner of the prestigious Reuben Award for Best Cartoonist, focuses on the travails of a bird named Speed Bump. Speed Bump's brother is the illustrious Early Bird, the one who always gets the worm. This isn't Speed Bump's only problem. He has a hard time waking up, his wings are tiny, his tail feathers are short, and his head is larger than his body. Fortunately, he has a great friend, Slingshot, who knows how to brighten Speed Bump's days. Together they have a life-changing adventure deep in the nighttime forest. Filled with subtle irony, wordplay, and gentle pokes at life, the text is accompanied by appealingly large, cartoon-style, black-and-white line drawings. VERDICT This story will have students laughing out loud and reluctant readers asking for the sequel.—Paula Huddy, The Blake School-Highcroft Campus, Wayzata, MN

School Library Journal

2015-06-10
Early Bird's underachieving little brother finally gets a taste of worm in this daft series opener. Too proud to accept any worm he hasn't caught or at least earned himself but unable, despite repeated efforts, to beat his annoyingly zippy sibling out of the nest in the morning, Tweety Pie-look-alike Speed Bump (related only in name to the author's syndicated cartoon) at last nerves himself to take a scary pre-dawn stroll—and comes upon a veritable convention of angry Nightcrawlers setting a trap for Early. Coverly sets up and presents the outing in a mix of prose and pen-and-ink sketches, with the pictures tending to shoulder out the text. Both, however, are liberally festooned with gags, sight gags, potty humor, and puns: "They hatched plans, but got eggsasperated because they knew none of them would work, and this was no yolking matter." Speed Bump is assisted by avian sidekick Slingshot, who is first met gleefully shooting an unwary squirrel in the "derrière" with a berry. He also enlists unlikely new buds Soda Pop the mouse and Hoover the owl to help spring the trap (prematurely). Unfortunately, his squirmy reward leaves him scurrying off in search of vegetarian fare ("CHEESABLE MERCY! WORMS ARE DISGUSTING!") and further misadventures. It's a little labored, but poop jokes never get old, right? (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-9)

Kirkus Reviews