The best part of this comic collection was the twelve- page episode about Spud’s giant pencil he won as a carnival prize. It’s been dull for so long, but now he has an opportunity to sharpen it- can Mrs. Macintosh’s new pencil sharpener do the job? or where else will he go to accomplish this? The rest of the book was still fun and amusing, but I wasn’t quite so keen on it all as the first three volumes. Has the charm dulled, or have I just read too many of them in quick succession. I don’t know why it took me until this volume for the characters to really sink in: Wallace full of exuberance for any adventure, exploring any possibility that crosses his mind. Little brother a bit more wacky and definitely uncouth. Amelia the tough sort, she doesn’t mince words, can be very skeptical, aggressive, and delights in destruction. And the calm newer girl Rose is more bookish, levelheaded and prefers sticking to the rules. Then there’s his buddy Spud: full of anxieties. He doesn’t like taking risks, has panic attacks under the giant parachute in class, freaks out over tests, never wants to go in the water (even though he lives next to a beach). Together they all make for a fun and interesting personality mix!
Wallace zones out playing pinball (again). Rose shares facts about the sun. The other kids are baffled that she takes piano lessons in summertime. Wallace elaborates the text with his own, more exciting details when reading aloud in class. I really enjoy the parents’ characters- the dad’s stoic acceptance of his boys’ antics, mom’s gardening and surfing passions, and that she still reads comic books alongside Wallace, making funny voices for some of them (my kid would roll their eyes). I love the page where Wallace makes his sunflower picture at school extend over many sheets of paper, growing down the whole hallway. The kids mess with tourists, corall crabs on the beach, explore caves, and make a hideout in a farmer’s cornfield, and that’s just a few that I mention.
Crafts in the extra pages include making seed bombs and hard sugar candy. Fun.
Borrowed from the public library.
