A Perfectly Messed-Up Story
by Patrick McDonnell; 
illus. by the author
Preschool, Primary    Little, Brown    40 pp.
10/14    978-0-316-22258-7    $17.00

“No pages were harmed in the making of this book.” This cheeky copyright page disclaimer is undoubtedly true, but the very realistic-looking messes inside — and on the cover—make it hard to believe. For Louie, the cartoony character in yellow footie pajamas whose story is derailed by these (virtual) messes, it’s all cause for an existential crisis. Louie’s “perfect story” begins in classic picture book fashion. “Once upon a time, little Louie went skipping merrily along. ‘Tra la la la la,’ he sang.” The scene is as bucolic and banal and unsullied as it gets…until the page turn. Louie’s speech balloons interrupt the narrator — “HEY! Hold on. WHAT’S THAT!?!” A purple gelatinous blob of jelly is followed by a glob of peanut butter (“AUGH! The chunky kind!”), dirty fingerprints, and orange-juice splatter. Discouraged but not defeated, Louie tries again. “From the top!” This time an ill-fated attempt to wipe away crayon scribbles causes Louie to give up: “My story is ruined…Go on without me.” It’s not over until the narrator says it’s over, though, which allows Louie and readers to see past the unexpected to what really matters. More to the point and funnier than Scieszka, Barnett, and Myers’s similarly themed Battle Bunny (rev. 11/13), McDonnell’s well-paced story is, in fact, messed up perfectly — strategically placed spills and all.

From the November/December 2014 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.