If Waffles Were Like Boys

Harper (Cupcake) offers a series of offbeat similes about the nature of boys. "If waffles were like boys... breakfast would be a BATTLEFIELD! If socks were like boys... laundry baskets would be PIRATE SHIPS!" Matching the whimsy of the comparisons, Magoon's illustrations create simple, inventive interpretations—one waffle employs a cereal-spoon catapult to attack a toast fortress, while a laundry basket becomes a frigate for sock puppet pirates. The collection mainly focuses on boys' more boisterous tendencies, and both collaborators work in some sly references throughout. Given kids' predilection for playing with their food, it only makes sense that "If peas were like boys... dinner plates would be PLAYGROUNDS!" And Harper riffs on hot dogs (alluding at once to food, animals, and showing off) to create a rodeo scene in which Magoon (Mostly Monsterly) has a hot dog cowboy riding a bottle of horseradish sauce in a clever visual pun. While not every boy is as rambunctious as those pictured, plenty are, and the rest will appreciate the book's leaps in imagination. Ages 3–6. (Sept.)