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Max Spaniel

Funny Lunch
by David Catrow
32p. 978-0-54505-747-9.
COPY ISBN
K-Gr 2—This second installment in the early-reader series is laugh-out-loud silly. Max comes from a long line of chefs and embraces the role at the diner where he works with his feline pal. He pushes the special of the day, pizza pie, but has no takers. When chili is ordered, Max delivers a scarf; a hot-dog order is filled with a panting dog and a fan. Finally a busload of people order 100 pizzas with everything to go, and the chef is unable to deliver. Dog and cat hop on a tandem bike and head to the local pizza shop, returning loaded with steaming hot pies. In the end, the customers leave happy and the two friends can finally sit down for a satisfying and well-deserved lunch break. Catrow's watercolor illustrations are exuberant and clever, full of humorous details that kids will love to discover. The typeface and sentence lengths suggest a low-level early reader, but the absence of clear picture clues makes this best for shared reading practice.—Heather Acerro, Allen County Public Library, Fort Wayne, IN
In his second story, dog Max Spaniel becomes a "great chef," but when a tour bus driver orders "one hundred pizzas with everything," Max knows he's in over his head. The humorous text with numerous puns is easy to read. Zany, exuberant watercolor illustrations expand the story, showing Max's chaotic kitchen and pizza problems.
Reviewed by Heather Acerro , Jul 01, 2010

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