Julie Just
A headlong plunge into surrealism…It's not supposed to make sense, and, amusingly, it doesn't.
—The New York Times
Publishers Weekly
When his parents threaten to teach him responsibility by giving him a whale, Billy Twitters isn't worried: "It's not like you can just have one delivered to your house overnight." But he's wrong. Rex's (Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich) howler of a double-page spread shows an enormous trailer attached to a "FedUp" truck, an equally massive blue whale suspended from tow straps. Rex's Mad magazine-style artwork-realistic enough to drive home the humor and full of clever touches-is the perfect choice for Barnett's high-concept debut. Billy hauls the whale to school behind his bike, a skateboard under the creature for easier sliding; confronts the school bully and the school geek (new allies, in league against him); and struggles with blue whale upkeep, like collecting 10,000 gallons of seawater at mealtime ("Try the ocean, son," his father suggests). Billy never names his whale-it's more of a burden than a pet. The abrupt ending disappoints somewhat, given the uproarious pages that precede it (the contributors also work in scientific information about blue whales-though readers, between laughs, may not notice). Still, tons of fun. Ages 3-7. (June)Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Children's Literature
- Phyllis Kennemer
Billy Twitters is an incorrigible child. He will not clean his room; he will not brush his teeth; and he will not eat his baked peas. His frustrated mother threatens to give Billy a blue whale if he does not start minding. He does not, and she does. The whale arrives via FedUp Express, known for delivering punishment worldwide. Taking the blue whale everywhere proves to be a problem. Transportation using his bike and a skateboard is slow and is damaging to trees and traffic signals. Billy cannot hide the whale in the classroom and he is uninvited to a pool party. When he checks the Blue Whale Owner's Manual, Billy finds that he must wash and wax the whale and check for barnacles. And he needs to gather ten-thousand-gallons of seawater per day. The ridiculous premise is played out with Billy moving into the whale's mouth. Facts about whales are blended into the storyline, mostly through the illustrations. The pictures cover the pages to the edges and provide appropriately exaggerated examples of the absurdity of the text. Billy is portrayed as a very unhappy child. All his facial expressions exhibit either frowns or boredom with not even a single smile. This is a rather didactic tale about the consequences of not minding mothers. Reviewer: Phyllis Kennemer, Ph.D.
School Library Journal
K-Gr 4—Billy Twitters's parents don't mess around when doling out punishments. When the boy fails to clean his room, brush his teeth, and finish his baked peas, they buy him a blue whale. It arrives via FedUp (motto: "Delivering Punishment Worldwide"), and it's up to Billy to take care of it. Rex's goofy illustrations blend the realistic with the fantastic, as in a giant wordless spread of Billy pedaling furiously on his bike, towing the whale behind on a skateboard as the beast's bulk takes out telephone poles and traffic lights. At school, things don't improve; a teacher gives a whale lecture instead of showing a promised cowboy movie, and Billy is uninvited from a pool party when the hostess learns he would have to bring the cetacean. And he soon finds that gathering thousands of krill for its dinner is tough work. At last, after cleaning out the whale's stinky mouth, Billy decides that it's a pretty peaceful place, and he decides to move in. That's a strange ending for an odd story, but young readers will likely enjoy the ridiculous premise, and the many whale facts worked seamlessly into the tale.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD
Kirkus Reviews
Readers know what kind of place they are in when the endpapers include ads for giant-squid repellent and shrimp-of-the-month club and the author and illustrator snark at each other in the dedication. Billy Twitters's room looks much as one might expect: unmade bed, piles of dirty and clean clothes, video games, books, backpack and stuffed toys everywhere. Billy's mom tells him plainly that he's to clean up his room and finish his dinner or "we're buying you a blue whale." He doesn't, and they do. While Rex never reveals the faces of the adults, he does provide nicely detailed diagrams of the size and habits of the blue whale (from FedUp, "Delivering Punishment Worldwide"). Billy has to take his whale everywhere, even though the whale kind of wrecks the classroom and moves Alexis to un-invite Billy and the whale to her pool party. However, the prospect of feeding his whale inspires Billy to a damp and fishy but very boylike solution to the problem of both room-cleaning and whale-sitting. Definitely funny and slyly subversive. (Picture book. 5-8)
