I Scream! Ice Cream!: A Book of Wordles
The rest of us may know them as homophones, but author Rosenthal (Duck! Rabbit!, 2009) calls them wordles. Either way, they are “groups of words that sound exactly the same but mean different things,” as a cherub-faced, rosy-cheeked boy explains at the beginning of this title. Rosenthal’s wordles range from the classic—“I scream / ice cream”—and the easily grasped (“reindeer / rain, dear”) to the somewhat more obscure, though amusing: “sorry, no more funnel cakes / sorry, no more fun . . . elk aches.” The central homophonic device may be lost on many children, who will simply come along for a potentially giggle-inducing ride. Bloch’s rough figures, delineated with quirkily-shaped bodies, funny hair, and chortle-worthy expressions will go a long way toward enlivening the punch lines. The prime audience here will be slightly advanced readers of the age group and older children who share Rosenthal’s love for wordplay. Pair this with William Steig’s classic C D B! (1968) and Jon Agee’s palindrome-centric titles. Grades K-3. --Jesse Karp