Spring's Silly Superlatives

by Sally Lodge -- Publishers Weekly, 2/19/2007

And the winner is…

In this season of omnipresent award ceremonies recognizing performances in virtually every medium, we want to get into the act too. Once again we take to the podium to present our silly awards for titles that caught our eye for one reason or another. Congratulations to one and all!

Title That Answers One of Childhood's Most Vexing Questions: Cheese by Margie Palatini, illus. by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher, which finally addresses what happens to the lonesome hunk of cheddar at the end of "The Farmer in the Dell"—and whyit must stand alone. (HarperCollins/Tegen)

Title That Will Be Most Welcomed by Fathers of Teenage Girls: 1,000 Reasons Never to Kiss a Boyby Martha Freeman. (Holiday House)

Story Most Likely to Encourage Cantankerous Kids to Volunteer Their Mothers for a Space Mission: Mars Needs Moms! by Berkeley Breathed, in which Martians arrive in search of moms. (4-up) (Philomel)

Snappiest Title for Teens: Love Is a Many Trousered Thing, which continues Louise Rennison's Confessions of Georgia Nicolson series. (HarperCollins/HarperTeen)

Title That Leaves Least to the Imagination: Who Pooped in the Zoo? San Diego Zoo: Exploring the Weirdest, Wackiest, Grossest & Most Surprising Facts About Animal Zoo Poo by Caroline Patterson. (Farcountry Press)

Picture Book Most Likely to Make Kids Grateful to Wake up in Their Own Beds: Another Day in the Milky Way by David Milgrim, in which Monty wakes up one morning in an alternate universe, where his mother has three heads and serves liver flakes for breakfast. (Putnam)

Sound Board Book Likely to Elicit the Most Snickers from Kids—if Not Their Parents: Farley Fartsby Birte Müller (North-South)

Book Most Likely to Spur Librarians to Keep a Sharp Eye Out for Hungry Browsers: The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers. (Philomel)

Fishiest Tale: Five Little Gefiltes by Dave Horowitz, in which—oy vey!—five curious gefilte fish sneak out of their jar to explore the world. (Putnam)

Zaniest Title: How to Save Your Tail*: *if you are a rat nabbed by cats who really like stories about magic spoons, wolves with snout-warts, big, hairy chimney trolls... and cookies, too. ($15.99) by Mary Hanson (Random House/Schwartz & Wade)

Heroine Whose Pain Readers Will Most Likely Feel:Bridgett Butt, star of The Worst Name in Third Grade by Debbie Dadey. (Scholastic)