A Book to Add to My Word Play Books

I love when I find a new book to add to my collection of picture books with great word play. I am building quite a collection of these so I couldn't pass up this new one that I found today. It is called BUTTERFLIES IN MY STOMACH AND OTHER SCHOOL HAZARDS by Serge Bloch. This is the story of a boy's first day of school--from the minute he wakes up until the time the bus drops him off at home at the end of the day. Each page tells a bit about his day and each is filled with lots of word play--The illustrations share the "literal" meaning of some of the sayings. They are simple black and white illustrations with color graphics added to illustrate the point of the more literal meaning. From "being in a pickle" to being "in the same boat", this book is full of idioms and a simile or two ("I was as happy as a puppy with two tails!").

The thing that makes this book unique is that the idioms are part of a story with a bit of a plot--the word play is definitely the focus of the book but there is a sequential story going on too!