cover image A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to School...

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to School...

Davide Cali, illus. by Benjamin Chaud. Chronicle, $12.99 (44p) ISBN 978-1-4521-3168-9

The scruffy-suited, shaggy-haired boy from I Didn’t Do My Homework Because... is back, and he has more excuses ready for his teacher, this time regarding why he’s late for school. His circuitous, belief-defying story involves being attacked by ninjas (their wild gestures make them resemble Matisse dancers), being abducted by mole people, wandering in and out of a few fairy tales, and tooling around in the president’s private jet. His remarkably patient teacher takes this all in stride, but Cali and Chaud give the boy (and readers) the last laugh, proving the adage that truth can be stranger than fiction. Ages 6–9. (Mar.)