The Pepins and Their Problems

by Polly Horvath Narrated by Julie Halston

Overview

Whether it's waking up to find toads in their shoes, becoming trapped on the roof, or searching for cheese when their cow only makes lemonade, the Pepin family always seems to get into the most bizarre scrapes. Lucky for them, they have an author with large psychic antennae and great problem-solving listeners who can join the Pepins on their hilarious adventures. And they need all the help they can get!

In this joyfully absurd romp Polly Horvath is in top comedic form.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Following her National Book Award-winning dark comedy The Canning Season, Horvath reprises the unalloyed giddiness of Everything on a Waffle-and ups the ante with some outrageous, Pirandello-like flourishes. Seemingly dire problems forever loom over the Pepin family: toads lurk in their shoes, or their hot chocolate has grown too cold to drink. Their addled responses (nobody would ever think of simply reheating the chocolate) group them with the beloved fools of Harry Allard and James Marshall's Stupids books and of Chelm tales. The difference is that Horvath impishly colludes with the audience. She inserts "the author" as a character, too, a great psychic who can receive suggestions from readers: "If you put one finger on each temple and concentrate, she will be able to hear your solution and share it with the Pepins and other readers." The narrative folds in ideas from "readers" (these are invariably as ridiculous as the Pepins' own). "Wait! Yes, my antennae quiver," writes Horvath during the hot-chocolate conundrum. "One dear reader from Brookline, Massachusetts, thinks that all the Pepins need to do is find a very successful writer and have him or her blow some hot air on the cold chocolate" (the Pepins dismiss the notion, because of "all those germs"). If the end seems a bit abrupt, no matter: the sly running jokes about place names and brazenly funny developments keep the conceit and the comedy energetic all the way to the finish line. Ages 8-12. (Aug.) Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

Gr 4-7-The Pepin family's troubles range from a cow that gives lemonade to disappearing kitchen utensils to their very fine neighbor falling in love with a barber pole. Like Harry Allard's Stupids, the characters' nonsensical antics offer plenty of humor. The individual Pepins, including a cat and dog, have fairly distinct personalities that come through in the dialogue. It's Horvath's arch narration, though, that adds spice and unpredictability. At each chapter's end she calls upon readers to "think" their solutions directly to her own "unusually large psychic antennae," then shares the suggestions she receives in the next chapter. Most of the "readers" hail from towns with especially unusual names such as Nanafalia and Zigzag, eventually representing all 50 states. And from their ideas, they seem to be about as confused as the Pepins themselves. Horvath's mock serious commentary sets just the right tone and makes the novel more than just a series of silly episodes. The author also responds with good humor to the suggestions she receives ("Your author declines even to comment on this"). The sly humor is just right for upper-elementary-school kids, and this book should be a fun read-aloud for younger listeners.-Steven Engelfried, Beaverton City Library, OR Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Horvath puts a distinctive and decidedly hilarious spin on the "problem novel" with this chronicle of a family's unusual (to say the least) mishaps. She also carries the metafictional conceits of Allen Ahlberg's Better Brown Stories (1995) and such a step further-for not only does she converse with her characters, she invites readers to chime in psychically from wherever they may be, duly recording any suggestions she "receives," along with their towns of origin. Poor Pepins: if it's not a rash of toads in their shoes, or a cow who's suddenly giving lemonade when it's cheese that's in short supply, it's Mrs. Pepin's latest crying jag, or the mysterious disappearance of all the tableware. Young readers won't be able to turn the pages fast enough to discover the Pepins' newest predicament, to find out its seldom-obvious cause, to check out the reader comments winging in from the likes of Boring, MD, Forks of Cacapon, WV, and other real places-but mostly to meet the Pepins, part Bagthorpes, part fugitives from Chelm, and their fittingly quirky neighbors, all of whom are rendered in Hafner's sunny, simply drawn cartoons. A delight. (Fiction. 10-12)

From the Publisher

Following her National Book Award-winning dark comedy The Canning Season, Horvath reprises the unalloyed giddiness of Everything on a Waffle—and ups the ante with some outrageous, Pirandello-like flourishes . . . the sly running jokes about place names and brazenly funny developments keep the conceit and the comedy energetic all the way to the finish line.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review

“Distinctive and decidedly hilarious . . . Young readers won't be able to turn the pages fast enough to discover the Pepins' newest predicament. . . . A delight.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

“Horvath spins deliciously silly stories about a family rivaling Hale's Peterkins for foolishness and Cresswell's Bagthorpes for effervescent wit. Each preposterous event holds fresh surprise. . . . Hafner's line drawings visualize the shenanigans with comic amiability. Here's one reader beaming thoughts to both author and illustrator: Thanks for the laughs! More, please!” —The Horn Book Magazine, Starred Review

“The sly humor is just right for upper-elementary-school kids, and this book should be a fun read-aloud for younger listeners.” —School Library Journal

“Horvath spins a delightful yarn . . . the wordplay is a great argument for reading this aloud; adults will enjoy the story almost as much as children.” —Booklist

JUNE/JULY 05 - AudioFile

The Pepin family does, indeed, find itself in an endless stream of preposterous predicaments. How can a responsible family provide appropriate hospitality when its cow suddenly dispenses lemonade instead of milk? What is the appropriate phrase with which to inform a very fine neighbor that he’s fallen in love with a barber pole? The Pepin family’s ridiculous vignettes will be enjoyed by elementary-age listeners while the book’s impressive vocabulary will be appreciated by teachers and parents. Julie Halston’s reading of this odd story evokes the image of a librarian reading to young children. Perhaps the story could have been more lively if it had been narrated by someone with a knack for accents and goofy voices. N.M.C. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172191190
Publisher:	Penguin Random House
Publication date:	10/12/2004
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	8 - 11 Years

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