Oh my aching memory. I know we've had this book before from the library and I was SURE we'd reviewed it but nope, somehow this absolutely fantastic (and quite hilarious) little tale managed to get through the "ReadItDaddy" weekly reading pile without being covered.
So we're not only going to rectify that, we're going to give it 'Book of the Week' because it's quickly become the most requested book from the stack of 10 we snagged from the library on our last visit.
A poor hapless (and nameless) little chap sits next to Jennifer Jones in class at school, and she just...won't...leave...him...alone. It's a funny and cute story about that phase most boys go through where they think girls are a bit of a pest, and all that 'kissy huggy' stuff is a right royal pain in the posterior. Secretly though, shortly after it's also when boys discover their fledgeling egos buried under their brash unwashed exteriors, and of course you can probably guess how the book goes (but as ever, here at ReadItDaddy we're only going to give you the slightest flavour of what to expect!)
Frieda Wishinsky's rhyming couplets are hilarious, and Neal Layton's crazed child-like scribblings really grow on you and are absolutely fitting for this book (if you've ever seen any of Cressida Cowell's Emily Brown books, you'll already know his work and probably already love it).
Thoroughly recommended but your boys might think it's a bit too gushy and girly (until the end of the book at least!) Needless to say, my daughter loves it to bits.
Charlotte's best bit: Imagining that Jennifer Jones is her and that the boy is "Prince Jacob" from Preschool.
Daddy's favourite bit: Layton's crazy mix of child-like drawings laid over photo and picture montages, and the way he draws bears!
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars, book of the week