A Perfectly Messed-Up Story

by Patrick McDonnell

Overview

In this interactive and engaging read-aloud, bestselling author and award-winning artist and creator of the MUTTS comic Patrick McDonnell creates a funny, engaging, and almost perfect story about embracing life's messes.

★ "Brilliant.... A playful, funny, and friendly treatment of anxiety and life's unpredictable messes." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Little Louie's story keeps getting messed up, and he's not happy about it! What's the point of telling his tale if he can't tell it perfectly? But when he stops and takes a deep breath, he realizes that everything is actually just fine, and his story is a good one--imperfections and all.

Caldecott Honoree and creator of the beloved comic strip MUTTS Patrick McDonnell uses his signature gentle touch to remind young readers that it’s okay to make mistakes, that real life isn’t perfect—and that “imperfect” doesn’t mean “worse.”

Don't miss these other picture books by Patrick McDonnell:
Me…Jane
The Gift of Nothing
The Gift of Everything
Art
Hug Time
Tek
The Little Red Cat Who Ran Away and Learned His ABC's (the Hard Way)
A Perfectly Messed-Up Story
The Monsters’ Monster

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316257657
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	10/07/2014
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
File size:	7 MB
Age Range:	3 - 6 Years

About the Author

Patrick McDonnell’s beloved and award-winning comic strip, MUTTS, has appeared in over 700 newspapers across 20 countries for 30 years. Charles Schulz called it “One of the best comics strips of all time.” Patrick is the author of several New York Times bestselling picture books, including The Gift of Nothing, and the Caldecott Honor winning Me...Jane. Both have been adapted as musicals for the Kennedy Center stage. Other children’s books include Hug Time, A Perfectly Messed-Up Story, The Monsters’ Monster, and Thank You and Goodnight. Patrick was a member of the Board of Directors of The Humane Society of the United States for 18 years and currently serves on the boards of The Charles M. Schulz Museum and D&R Greenway Land Trust. He lives in New Jersey.

Editorial Reviews

The pleasures of watching a book depart from its conventions and address its sticky-fingered reader will tickle even the littlest postmodernist.

The New York Times Book Review - Mark Levine

* "Brilliant.... A playful, funny, and friendly treatment of anxiety and life's unpredictable messes."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* "Louie's exaggerated reactions...will trigger laughs with every page turn....McDonnell... excels at reminding his characters—and readers—that it's possible to keep it together even when life has jelly all over it."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The pleasures of watching a book depart from its conventions and address its sticky-fingered reader will tickle even the littlest postmodernist."—New York Times Book Review

"Classic McDonnell pen, ink, and watercolor pastels blend with mixed-media and crayon messes to make this untidy tale a victory for unkempt books everywhere. Keep calm, and read on!"—School Library Journal

"This [one] is a fun one—Kiddos who get messy with their books will likely giggle."—Booklist

From the Publisher

"Simple yet inspired."

The New York Times Book Review

"McDonnell arranges the tale so that it blooms like a dawning day.... Relax, little monsters, and enjoy."

Booklist

★ 2014-08-01
Here's an existential dilemma: What if you were a character in a book, and sandwich fillings fell onto your page from above? Louie skips across a calm green field under mild skies and neat, fluffy clouds. His footie pajamas are yellow, and his paper-white face is merry. "Tra la la la la," he sings. Suddenly, a blob of jelly falls from above, inferably dropped by a less-than-fastidious reader. "HEY!" shouts Louie in a speech bubble that obscures the text, nonplussed. He sniffs and licks the jelly for positive identification, squinting and declaring dissatisfaction with this sticky mess, when suddenly from above—"PLOP!" This time it's peanut butter. Enjoyable cartoon physics are at work: The peanut butter falls right onto Louie's face and covers it, but when he leans sideways, he's free of it. The ultrarealistic digitally collaged PB&J splotches retain their exact shape from spread to spread; McDonnell also uses pen and ink, brush pen, crayon and watercolor. More messes deface the idyllic countryside—fingerprints, juice, scribbles and, worst of all, a paper towel that smears rather than cleaning—and Louie has a meltdown. The blank backgrounds that throw Louie's freakout in relief, the interplay between narrative text and Louie's frantic speech bubbles, and Louie's prostrate despair are all brilliant. Happily, the backgrounds reappear (clean, but what's that on the endpaper?), and so does Louie's equilibrium. A playful, funny and friendly treatment of anxiety and life's unpredictable messes. (Picture book. 3-7)

Kirkus Reviews