Brandon and the Totally Troublesome Time Machine

by Seth Fishman, Mark Fearing (Illustrator)

Overview

A fun, inventive romp of a picture book about a boy who travels back to yesterday to fix his homework but gets into a battle across time with his past and future selves, from award-winning author Seth Fishman.

Brandon built a time machine! (It wasn’t that hard.)

Now, he can visit super cool moments in world history (as well as family history). But what Brandon really wants to do with his time machine is FIX HIS HOMEWORK. (He might have done poorly because he was busy building his time machine.)

Will future Brandon be the solution to all of past Brandon’s problems? Or is not wanting to do homework a timeless dilemma?

Perfect for fans of Corinna Luyken’s The Book of Mistakes, this humorous yet heartfelt story playfully explores the importance of being on your own team and facing challenges head-on rather than fixating on the past or looking to the future. Illustrator Mark Fearing's fresh, retro art style brings wit to every page.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780593662281
Publisher:	Penguin Young Readers Group
Publication date:	10/15/2024
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.25(w) x 10.25(h) x 0.40(d)
Lexile:	480L (what's this?)
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Seth Fishman (he/him) is the author of Bad Drawer, A Hundred Billion Trillion Stars—a Boston Globe–Horn Book Award Honor book and winner of the Mathical Prize—as well as Power Up and The Ocean in Your Bathtub. He lives with his family in Los Angeles, California. Visit him online at sethasfishman.com.

Mark Fearing (he/him) is a veteran children’s book author and illustrator. His work includes Earthling!, The Three Little Aliens and the Big Bad Robot, How Martha Saved Her Parents from Green Beans, the Frights from Feral series, the Middle School Bites series, and more. He lives outside of Portland, Oregon. Visit him online at markfearing.com.

Editorial Reviews

"This flippantly funny selection will appeal to reluctant readers, mistake makers, and homework shirkers alike. A lively lesson on the value of hard work and perseverance embedded in a wacky time travel adventure."—Kirkus

"With comic sageness...a silly time-travel comedy about shirking responsibility."—Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

2024-07-19
What would you do if you could travel back in time?

After inventing a time machine, pale-skinned, redheaded Brandon initially does the relatively expected and embarks on a time travel extravaganza: He watches animals evolve, checks out the Colossus of Rhodes, visits Alexander Hamilton, relives his favorite memories, and investigates some moments he’s always been curious about, like his own birth. Then he decides to go back to a more recent time in order to complete a failed homework assignment; after all, he now knows the right answers. But soon past Brandon gets too reliant on future Brandon and begins slacking off, secure in the knowledge that future Brandon will put things right. Frustration ensues! What’s a cheeky, work-avoidant boy to do? Sketchy, comical illustrations depict Brandon, a number of his past and future selves, and some surprise guests as they first wreak havoc, then set out to fix his admitted mistake and remedy the situation. Though there may be a few loose ends, “Brandon will deal with them…one day at a time.” Lighthearted and joke-filled, with a gently inserted moral about the perils of laziness, this flippantly funny selection will appeal to reluctant readers, mistake makers, and homework shirkers alike.

A lively lesson on the value of hard work and perseverance embedded in a wacky time travel adventure.(Picture book. 4-7)

Kirkus Reviews