mrsbond's review against another edition
3.0
Henry P. Baloney concocts an excellent excuse for being late to school, again. He manages to work in words from a variety of earth languages (not to mention a transposition and a spoonerism). The interstellar artwork and creative storytelling are sure to grab the attention of Earthling children.
missprint_'s review against another edition
3.0
I don't think any of this duo's books will ever manage to surpass Math Curse in my estimations.
click2carney's review against another edition
5.0
Fun for preschooler and parents alike! I love the foreign words they sprinkle in, and my son loves the exciting larger-than-life pictures.
libkatem's review against another edition
5.0
So darn cute, I can't even handle it. :D It's a little alien boy who is late for school, and his teacher demands an explanation. Well you see....
watkins's review against another edition
3.0
There are several different aspects of this book. It begins with Henry P. Balony making up an excuse for why he was late to class. He spins an imaginative tale filled with seemingly nonsense words. The illustrations use many different images to create a picture of what might be going on in Henry's head as he tries create an excuse that will keep him out of "Permanent Lifelong Detention." Henry escaps PLD because the assignment for the day was to write a tall tale. This is a great book to use as a gateway to more traditional tall tales.
just_fighting_censorship's review against another edition
1.0
What a terrible idea.
If you are going to read this book aloud be prepared to stumble and stammer and stare into children's blank faces or furrowed brows of confusion. If you try the "lets guess what each word means" game they might get the first one, pencil, but the rest of the time the only answer to your questions will be crickets. Plot and storyline are suitable for a younger age but the language and concept is more for older children, therefore I don't find it suitable for any age.
Too many strange words, what is the point of including such random foreign EARTH languages? Since it's an alien it makes even less sense.
If you are going to read this book aloud be prepared to stumble and stammer and stare into children's blank faces or furrowed brows of confusion. If you try the "lets guess what each word means" game they might get the first one, pencil, but the rest of the time the only answer to your questions will be crickets. Plot and storyline are suitable for a younger age but the language and concept is more for older children, therefore I don't find it suitable for any age.
Too many strange words, what is the point of including such random foreign EARTH languages? Since it's an alien it makes even less sense.
psalmcat's review against another edition
5.0
Very very clever. I love almost everything Jon Scieszka does, so this should come as no surprise. Definitely recommended for little space-nuts and tall-tale-tellers.
nightowlreader's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting story! The idea is cool and pretty creative, but the creative aspect of the story also made the story a little unintelligible.
The definition of the words should be on each page as they are presented, or else you’d be reading through the entire book and still very confused the whole time.
The definition of the words should be on each page as they are presented, or else you’d be reading through the entire book and still very confused the whole time.
jmshirtz's review against another edition
4.0
Adorable! It's amazing how "alien" words in other languages can sound. Pun intended. :)
sillynicole's review against another edition
4.0
What do students on Earth and students in space have in common? They come up with outlandish excuses for not having a pencil and being late to class! This clever and funny story shares the excuse of Henry P. Baloney. Even more fun - all the alien sounding words found in the text are actually Earth languages.