Having hit the comedy switch with Freaky Friday (1972), which put 13-year-old Annabel Andrews into her mother's body for a brief spell of household hassles, Rodgers generates as many laughs by having Annabel's younger brother Ben, now twelve, switch bodies with his father. Both are surprised when it happens in the Port Authority bus station—and a screaming, kicking Dad is dragged off to the summer camp he hated in his own youth while Ben, in beard and business suit, must fly to L.A. for some very sensitive sessions with his new boss, the president of Galaxy Pictures. A serious early goof on Ben's part actually works for his (or his dad's) advantage, and soon he is offered a promotion to vice president and a move to Los Angeles. All in all bland, nice-guy Ben does surprisingly well in this ruthless world where no one is sincere and his goofs are interpreted as gamesmanship. Meanwhile, in alternate chapters, Dad-as-Ben becomes the successful jock he never was the first time round, and the tired old summer-camp material gets a shot in the arm from the switch twist: when the camper protagonist lets down his music-loving best friend to become popular number-two jock, then lets down number-one jock to return to his friend, it is executive Dad, not a developing kid, who is being humanized. The major crisis comes to center on the mother/wife, who is angry that her husband (so it seems) has unilaterally accepted the move to California—but the males are switched back in time to solve that problem, in a way Dad wouldn't have before. Needless to say, father and son end up closer for the ordeal. More important, the mixups along the way are hilariously funny.
Pub Date: Sept. 22, 1982
ISBN: 0060512318
Page Count: 210
Publisher: Harper & Row
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1982
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren.
In talk-show host Fallon and illustrator Ordóñez’s latest picture-book collaboration, an elderly pooch waxes rhapsodic about a life well lived.
Observing Papa sitting in his chair watching TV all day, a young pup says, “I’m starting to think…you don’t do ANYTHING.” So Papa proceeds to list his accomplishments, both big and small, mundane and profound. Some are just a result of being older and physically bigger (being tall enough to reach a high shelf and strong enough to open jars); others include winning a race and performing in a band when he was younger. Eventually, the pup realizes that while Papa may have slowed down in his old age, he’s led a full life. The most satisfying thing about Papa’s life now? Watching his grandchild take center stage: “I can say lots of thoughts / but I choose to be quiet. / I’d rather you discover things and then try it.” Fallon’s straightforward text is sweetly upbeat, though it occasionally lacks flow, forcing incongruous situations together to fit the rhyme scheme (“I cook and I mow, / and I once flew a plane. // I play newspaper puzzles because it’s good for my brain”). Featuring uncluttered, colorful backgrounds, Ordóñez’s child-friendly digital art at times takes on sepia tones, evoking the sense of looking back at old photos or memories. Though the creators tread familiar ground, the love between Papa and his little one is palpable.
A tale of intergenerational bonding to be shared by grandparents and grandchildren. (Picture book. 3-6)Pub Date: May 13, 2025
ISBN: 9781250393975
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2025
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