“Mom & Dad are Palindromes: A Dilemma
For Words… and Backwards” by Mark Shulman, illus. by Adam McCauley
(Chronicle Books, 9780811843287, $15.95, 36 pages, ages 4 to 8)
This whacky picture book tells a silly tale illustrating that
palindromes—words and phrases that are spelled the same forward and
backward—are all around us, easy to build, and difficult for us to avoid. It
introduces youngsters to an interesting quirk of language and gives more
than one hundred funny examples to inspire their own cleverness. It’s sure
to find a TOP SPOT on your book shelf.
BOB has a problem. Once his teacher, MISS SIM, tells the class about
palindromes, his face just gets REDDER and REDDER as he realizes that not
only is he a palindrome himself, but palindromes are *everywhere* around
him, and worse, they are *out to get him*! WOW, HUH? That GIG sure deserves
an S.O.S.!
As Bob tries to avoid RACE CARs, KAYAKs, his PUP OTTO, and even catching
sight of his own sparkly blue EYE in a mirror, he dashes home to tell his
family what he’s discovered. But wait! MOM and DAD are palindromes, too.
Even Bob’s big sister ANNA, with her DOOFY FOOD, and his baby SIS NAN, a
little TOT tucked inside her BIB and BIRCH CRIB, are filthy with
palindromes. It’s not even NOON yet and Bob feels like a total KOOK!
After downing a bottle of POP, saving a NUN from colliding with a STEEL
FLEETS truck, and racing off to the docks (where he applies for jobs running
RADAR, fixing a ROTOR, and working to PULL UP an anchor), Bob leaves without
a PEEP. Though he eventually realizes that palindromes are harmless fun, he
resolves to avoid them when he can; he’ll call his folks “Mother” and
“Father” in the future, and from now on, he’ll only use his full given name:
Robert Trebor. AHA!
Review by
Mark David
Bradshaw, March 5, 2008
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