STUCK (Picture Book)

by Oliver Jeffers

Philomel-Penguin, 2011

A Book Review by

Lenny the Levitating Puppy

Bigfoot and I like to play frisbee. He throws the frisbee as far as he can and I run to catch it. If I catch it before it lands, I get a point. If it hits the ground before I can catch it, Bigfoot gets a point. Sometimes I win, sometimes Bigfoot wins. It’s fun.

When we played yesterday, a big gust of wind carried the frisbee way up high and it got stuck in a tree. I’m not usually allowed to levitate so high, but Bigfoot said it would be okay just this once. I levitated up and got the frisbee. (That was a point for me.)

We kept playing until I had twenty-three points and Bigfoot had six. The frisbee didn’t get stuck in the tree any more. If it had, I could have levitated up and got it down again.

Poor Floyd from the picture book STUCK can’t levitate, so when his kite gets stuck in a tree he’s out of luck. He tries throwing his shoe at the kite, but his shoe gets stuck, too. Up goes his other shoe. It doesn’t come back down. Then Floyd sends up his cat. The cat gets stuck. (Silly Floyd. Cats can’t levitate.)

Next Floyd gets a ladder. It’s almost a good idea, except instead of climbing the ladder to get the kite, shoes, and cat, he throws it. The book gets funnier and funnier. Floyd keeps throwing all sorts of crazy things to knock down the other crazy things that have gotten stuck in the tree. He throws an orangutan, a fire truck, and even a house. They all get stuck. No matter what he throws, he can’t knock anything back down. (Even if Floyd could levitate, he probably couldn’t get the whale unstuck.)

This book makes me laugh. The drawings of all the things that get stuck in the tree are fun to look at. The funniest part is at the end. Floyd finally gets his kite back. I won’t tell you how. You’ll have to see for yourself. (Hint: Floyd doesn’t learn to levitate.)