Written and Illustrated by: Adam Rex
Chronicle Books, 2020
Picture book, 56 pages, ages 3-6
The book opens with an image of the unnamed main character asleep with – the big no-no – gum in her mouth! Which, of course, falls out and gets stuck in her hair.
On Account of the Gum is a book about how the best intentions lead to some of the worst (and funniest) ideas!
When it’s discovered, she gets sat on a chair and her dad gets the scissors … which get stuck in the gum … so they get two sticks of butter to unstick the scissors … which gets stuck on the scissors stuck to the gum … so the aunt says to try grass … you can guess where this is going…
On Account of the Gum is bursting with fun – a delight for kids of all ages. From the creative genius of Adam Rex (The True Meaning of Smek-day [which became the movie Home], Nothing Rhymes with Orange, and Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich), it is gloriously meta – the author-illustrator is narrating the story to the protagonist. (Just see what happens when they tell the harassed protagonist that they’re going to bring a cat into the story!)
The twist, even though you can feel it coming, still manages to be a surprise. The words and bubble-gum-hued illustrations work together to tell a just-about-perfect story. There might even be a lesson to be found, if you look hard enough, but mostly it’s just plain fun. (Moral: don’t let others try to solve your problems?)
Will kids like this book? You betcha! Well, most of them, anyway.
On Account of the Gum by Adam Rex gets 5 stars from this reviewer.