On Account of the Gum

Snappy second-person verse ("That's the gum./ Right there./ That you got in your hair") enumerates a family's vain efforts to remove a blob of shocking pink bubblegum as Rex (Unstoppable) dreams up ever-grosser remedies for the hairy dilemma. The victim is an adorable mop-headed child who falls asleep while blowing gum bubbles in bed, and subsequently glowers as hands reach in to sprinkle and smear it away. First met with scissors and two sticks of butter, the child's curls pile high as an aunt in a golf visor contributes grass cuttings, and "Your grandpa,/ who said that your/ aunt was mistaken,/ is mostly to blame/ for the noodles and bacon." Pets (a rabbit to nibble the grass, a cat to frighten the rabbit) and even appliances follow, racking up a pile on the kid's gummy pate. Rex's digital portraits of the child employ a feathery, pastel effect, a surprisingly soft counterpoint to the frenetic action offered by comically exaggerated adults. Though the ending sails off a cliff abruptly, those who are in it for the laughs won't care. Ages 5-8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.)

Copyright 2020 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

"A story of a sticky situation bursting with laughs, On Account of the Gum is a hilarious book from Adam Rex. The deadpan narrative voice in this book and the building chaos with each attempt to remove gum from the main character's hair will keep kids chuckling and asking for more. It is reminiscent of the old nursery rhyme, There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed a Fly, except no one gets eaten . . . and it's about gum . . . and the only old lady in it winds up stuck in the main character's hair. So maybe it isn't much like the old nursery rhyme at all. Don't chew it over. Just buy the book." -Ryan T. Higgins, bestselling author/illustrator of the Mother Bruce books and We Don't Eat Our Classmates