Forty the Fortune Teller

K-Gr 6–A riotous romp across a school playground will have readers howling with laughter and folding fortune tellers as soon as they can find a piece of paper. From Daywalt (The Day the Crayons Quit and its many sequels) comes the story of Forty, a mostly finished fortune teller that has been discarded on the school yard as the end-of-recess bell rang. Forty finds herself at a loss for her purpose in life until she meets Chip, a potato chip with a bite out of her head. Chip is hoping to make it to safety in Canada but when Forty sees that the playground slide is missing a bolt the dynamic duo decide they must set things right before the impending doom of the next recess. Together they go on a quest facing numerous obstacles, such as a basketball who believes himself king of the court. Forty tells his fortune (which is scatalogically hilarious and perfectly illustrated) and the basketball runs off in disgrace. With Forty’s fortune-telling prowess and Chip’s confidence they are able to defeat their adversaries and save the day with the help of a gang of wads of gum. The laughs are plentiful, with graphic novel-style dialogue; Cornell (illustrator of the “Terrible Two” series) adds to the delight and fun in this tour de force recess tale.