Stuck
by Oliver Jeffers
Philomel Books, on shelves Nov. 10, 2011
review copy provided by the publisher
The blurb for this book on Oliver Jeffers' website reads:
"A tale of trying to solve a problem by throwing things at it."
Floyd's kite is stuck in a tree, so he throws his shoe at it to get it down. His shoe gets stuck. Then he throws his other shoe and it gets stuck, too.
The sequence of the rest of the things Floyd throws at his problem starts off reasonable and veers decidedly to the ridiculous when he throws the kitchen sink, an orangutan, an ocean liner, the house across the street, and a whale...among other things. (Isn't that the way it goes, when you start throwing things at a problem?)
I can't really tell you about the end without taking all the fun of it away from you, but I will tell you that you're likely to have hope for Floyd's problem-solving ability, which will immediately be dashed, and yet, against all odds, there will be success...although you'll want to wring Floyd's neck in the end.
Kids will love this book. For them, it's a funny story of unintended consequences.
Adults will consider sending this book to their elected officials. Except for the fact that doing so would seem an awful lot like throwing a shoe...
