A book written without the letter “R” in it? (That is until the missing “R” is finally found.) File this one under one of the most clever picture books I’ve ever seen!
One day, a little girl wakes up and notices her pet ferret Doodles doesn’t look quite right. She also realizes that somehow the letter “R” has vanished from the alphabet on the wall in her room.
Without the letter “R” her pet ferret becomes her pet feet. In fact, all things that contain the letter “R” transform into words without an “R”. This turns the entire town upside down. The girl doesn’t know how to fix this, but she knows she has to come up with a plan to save her pet and her town – and FAST!
This book takes readers on a hilarious and witty adventure to find out what happened to the eighteenth symbol of the alphabet.
Here are a few things I think this book did really well:
- The overall concept – I mean, how does Josh Funk always think of these amazingly clever story plots?
- The illustrations – Illustrator Billy Yong did a brilliant job crafting the illustrations and facial expressions throughout the book.
- Play on words – The way Josh Funk played with vocabulary words to account for the missing ‘R’s’ was genius. It’s so funny to read about the flock of cows, kids riding on go-cats, and the police officer on the ack of a galloping hose!
- The attention to detail (both in illustration and text). I love the way the author and illustrator incorporated both humorous and meaningful details (thank you for showing the little Black girl wearing a bonnet at bedtime). Also, don’t miss the character Moe who is one of the townspeople and the before and after illustrations of the town without the letter “R” and with the letter “R” once it’s restored.
- The subtle lessons and teaching moments – Feelings, how one missing letter can change words, friendship, how to apologize to others.
- The twist at the end which hints at another potential picture book to be written in the future.
Check out a few reviews My Pet Feet has already received:
“My Pet Feet is funny and exciting to read! The wordplay creates many entertaining scenarios and will have kids searching the illustrations for additional cases of the ‘missing R.’ Families, teachers, and KIDS will love this!”
“Giggle. Tee-hee. Josh Funk and Billy Yong have created a new treasure chock-full of wordsmith fun. Scrabblers, grab a pencil, puzzlers, get your puz-mug on, My Pet Feet is a feat of genius, from our pals Funk & Yong. No doubt, inspired by Letterman, a 1970s PBS educational show called The Electric Company, this book follows a child through the day as the world goes topsy-turvy, letter by letter. Very cool. I have missed this game. Illustrations are top notch. Lots of extra linguistic mysteries and visual treats to unravel. Bravo.” – Jilleen Moore, Square Books in Oxford, Mississippi
Your turn: Have you read this hilarious book yet? It’s such a FUN read aloud! Feel free to share in the comments.
