Funny Boy Meets the Dumbbell Dentist from Deimos (with Dangerous Dental Decay) by Dan Gutman

This book is funny as hell, and deserves a wide audience. No, don't just buy one for your fat nephew, skinny kids will love it too! Dan just added this to an ebook collection, and it's everybody's gain. The jokes are, uh, jokey, maybe a bit on the lame side, but really funny! I mean, what in heck more could you ask, Bunny Boy? Sorry, forgot your name again. Just buy it, okay?

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Sillier and More Uneven than "My Weird School", But Fun, January 22, 2013
By Pause and Reflect

I recognized Dan Gutman as the author of the "My Weird School" books, (I think there are more than forty books in that series by now), and that was enough for me to try out this Funny Boy series.

I think that the "My Weird School" books are great for very beginning readers. Each book has a clear storyline, characters are neatly described, humor is mild and understandable, the school setting is familiar and comfortable, the hero is recognizable and engaging, and the energy level is high.

The "Funny Boy" books are a bit more problematic. The hero, Funny Boy, is an alien whose superpower is the ability to tell super-funny jokes. He's a bit out of control and wacky-impulsive. This makes him a very high energy character, and he can actually be a little wearing at times. When the plot and the humor are in sync and rolling the book can be very entertaining. When they aren't, the book can just be sort of frantic. But that's me thinking as an adult. As a kid who is ready for a more challenging chapter book, it may be that everything in here works.

I do like the idea that there is a little bit of everything in the Funny Boy books. There are groan worthy dumb jokes and puns. There are also some pretty sophisticated jokes and some very sly word play. So, whatever your reader's skill level is, there will be something here for him or her. (You have a character named Alison Wonderland; you have a discussion about the merits of Frosted Mini-Wheats, Unfrosted Mini-Wheats and Frosted Maxi-Wheats; then, you have a joke about a sheep that said "moo", because it was learning a second language; but then you have a bit about why abbreviation" is such a long word.) It's sort of like stream of consciousness, where the narrator's age keeps changing.

I think that kind of challenge is O.K., but I suspect that some kids will take to it and some probably won't. I'm inclined to try one of the Funny Boy books at home just to see how it goes over. It's certainly worth a good try.

Please note that I received a free advance ecopy of this book in exchange for a candid review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to the author or the publisher of this book.

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