Genre 3 (Poetry) Boy Wonder

Boy Wonder
by: Calef Brown

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brown, Calef. 2011. BOY WONDER. New York, N.Y. Atheneum: ISBN-978-1-4169-7877-0

PLOT SUMMARY

“May I ask you something? Are you ever perplexed? Completely vexed? Do you have questions? Queries? Odd theories? You do? Me too!” Calef Brown’s opening verses summarize the entire Boy Wonder book. Boy Wonder is a witty and silly poetic book about a boy who has an overabundance of queries and theories for his audience.    

CRITICAL ANALYISIS

Calef Brown’s delightful and charming book, Boy Wonder, captures the true curiosity of young children. “If I ever encounter mosquitoes the size of chickens, should I run like the dickens? Or would it be a better bet to find some chicken wire and make a mosquito net”. Brown’s imaginative rhyming word patterns create a fun and energetic rhythm which carries his readers through the plethora of questions. Brown’s rhythmic patterns and rhyming word choices make this book flow consistently providing his readers with an easy read.

Boy Wonder is bursting with engaging vocabulary that is attractive to the minds of Brown’s young readers. Brown’s book creates opportunities for his readers to think critically about the silly questions, even though some of the questions may be over the heads of his new or young readers. Brown’s young readers may be lacking life experiences that can help them answer the boy’s questions, but it does provide his adult readers with a humorous reading experience. The verse “Do you ever wonder whether schools of narwhal have the wherewithal to play tetherball.” is an example of a perplexing line that could be confusing to Brown’s young readers. Young readers may not know what a narwhal is, what wherewithal means or have never heard of tetherball. Having to stop and explain lines such as this one could take away from the purpose of the book, making the reading experiences un-enjoyable and confusing. Reviewing a list of words with young readers before reading this book would be helpful and would be a great way to contribute to their comprehension and fluency.

Brown’s creative tongue twisters and play on words are amusing and provide a fun experience for readers who are exploring rhyming words. Brown also plays with word meaning and sounds of words. “If mud in a puddle make it muddled, do kiddie pools become piddled?”and “Do taffy pullers ever push and make a glob of sticky mush?” are two great examples of Brown experimenting with words and their meanings. Brown’s play on words and fun rhyming patterns create great opportunities for his readers to chants or repeat fun questions, which promotes interaction with the story. “Would I say “ARRGH” a lot, like a pirate? Would they require it?" would be a fun line for readers to listen or watch for, anticipating interaction with the story. 

Brown’s exaggerated and bold illustrations covering the entire page from corner to corner burst with every color in a crayon box. Brown’s bright yellow sun rays and dark brown gargoyles create interesting and fun images for his reader to connect with the boy’s questions. Brown’s illustrations demonstrate a wide variety of emotions for his readers, frowning bears and angry mosquitoes, smiling giraffes and crying onions, anxious ants and perplexed trees that add meaning to his story and depth to the boy’s questions. Some may say that Brown’s illustrations are juvenile and look as if children could draw them, but I find them appropriate for this book and attractive to young readers. Brown’s inconsistent font sizes and shapes add to the excitement of the book, aiding in keeping the attention of his young readers.  Even though many of the verses in Boy Wonder will probably “fly” right over the heads of many young readers, Brown’s illustrations will still provide a meaningful and enjoyable reading experience for his young audience.

Brown’s book is a lot of fun to read and really makes one ponder the boy’s questions even though some may not make sense. Brown has created a rhyming book that can be enjoyed by all readers of every age. I would recommend that this book be in every home, public or school library.      

REVIEW EXCEPT(S)

Publishers Weekly- “Runaway punnery and nonstop questions drive this rhyming book, which calls attention to similar-sounding words and figures of speech.”

School Library Journal- “The connotations of everyday words and sayings are pondered and turned inside out and upside down in this wholly original paean to intellectual curiosity.”

Kirkus Review- "This boy doesn’t just wonder, he throws readers a forceful invitation: “May I ask you something? / Are you ever perplexed? / Completely vexed? / Do you have questions? / Queries? / Odd theories?” He does."
CONNECTIONS

Other Calef Brown Books

His Shoes Were Far Too Tight- ISBN: 0811867927
Polkabats and Octopus Slacks: 14 Stories- ISBN: 0618111298
Dutch Sneakers and Fleakeepers: 14 More Stories- ISBN: 0547237510

Discussion

Be prepared for some discussions about the questions and also to help your readers learn the definitions for some of the more challenging vocabulary words.

Question Game

Play 40 Questions with your readers encouraging them to use rhyming words and tongue twisters in your questions and answers. This game can be a fun way for readers to experiment with funny words and phrases. 

Explore

Calef Brown’s website has a large amount of information about his artwork, art gallery, shopping, and news that can contribute to the reader’s knowledge of the author. There is also contact information. This could be a great opportunity for readers to communicate with the Calef Brown through letters or email. 

WEBSITE - http://www.calefbrown.com/