Awards

• Commended for Capitol Choices: Noteworthy Books for Children and Teens (Seven to Ten) 2009
• Commended for Massachusetts Book Award (MassBook) (Children/Young Adult) 2009
• Commended for Nene Award 2010
• Commended for Parents Choice Awards (Spring) (2008-Up) (Fiction) 2008

Overview

From the New York Times bestselling and two-time Newbery Medal-winning author of The Giver and Number the Stars comes a delightfully tongue-in-cheek story about parents trying to get rid of their four children and the children who are all too happy to lose their beastly parents and be on their own. The Willoughby children--Timothy, twins Barnaby A and Barnaby B, and their sister Jane--are fond all old-fashioned things, but especially old-fashioned adventures. What they aren't fond of, however, are their parents. Truth be told, their parents aren't the fondest of them, either, and they're concocting an evil plan to get rid of their children once and for all! Both parents and children have plenty of dastardly ideas and tricks up their sleeves. The only thing they don't have is any idea of what lies between them and a happily-ever-after. Complete with a cheeky glossary and bibliography, this hilarious and wonderfully old-fashioned parody pays playful homage to classic works of children's literature like Mary Poppins and A Christmas Carol. Now a Netflix animated film, starring Ricky Gervais, Maya Rudolph, Terry Crews, Martin Short, Jane Krakowski, Will Forte, Alessia Cara, and S�an Cullen!

Full Product Details

9780618979745

Table of Contents

Reviews

The tone of this darkly dry pastiche is consistently witty, and it's chock-full of accessible parodic references to...classic children's texts...Lowry crafts a tidy plot. --The Bulletin, starred review

<p> The tone of this darkly dry pastiche is consistently witty, and it's chock-full of accessible parodic references to...classic children's texts...Lowry crafts a tidy plot. -- The Bulletin, starred review

[A] lollipop of witty metafiction...cunningly crocheted into a hilarious doily of drollery. Horn Book March/April 2008 [S]ly humor and a certain deadpan zaniness give literary conventions an ironic twist, with hilarious results. Booklist starred 2/15/08 Lois Lowry...casts her noble and enviable shadow wide across the landscape of children's literature. PW starred-Lemony Snicket, 02/04/08 Lowry's cover and interior illustrations show that she has an entirely untapped talent. School Library Journal, April 2008 .,. a delightful parody of classic works of children's literature. Boston Sunday Globe 4/13/08 Sly humor and a certain deadpan zaniness give literary conventions an ironic twist, with hilarious results...Great fun. ALA BookLinks starred Who knew that this Newbery Award-winning author longed to follow in the footsteps of Lemony Snicket and Roald Dahl?...The parody of old-fashioned storytelling is wonderfully farfetched, quite funny at times, and sporadically unsettling-the traditional recipe for compelling orphan drama. Lowry's own delightful pen-and-ink sketches introduce each of the twenty-one chapters and epilogue. August 2008 The tone of this darkly dry pastiche is consistently witty, and it's chock-full of accessible parodic references to...classic children's texts...Lowry crafts a tidy plot. -- The Bulletin, starred review The tone of this darkly dry pastiche is consistently witty, and it's chock-full of accessible parodic references to...classic children's texts...Lowry crafts a tidy plot. --The Bulletin, starred review The tone of this darkly dry pastiche is consistently witty, and it's chock-full of accessible parodic references to...classic children's texts...Lowry crafts a tidy plot. -- The Bulletin, starred review

The tone of this darkly dry pastiche is consistently witty, and it's chock-full of accessible parodic references to...classic children's texts...Lowry crafts a tidy plot. -- The Bulletin, starred review

Author Information

Lois Lowry is the author of more than forty books for children and young adults, including the New York Times bestselling Giver Quartet and the popular Anastasia Krupnik series. She has received countless honors, among them the Boston Globe-Horn Book Award, the Dorothy Canfield Fisher Award, the California Young Reader Medal, and the Mark Twain Award. She received Newbery Medals for two of her novels, Number the Stars and The Giver.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available