Noodleheads Do the Impossible

by Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton, Mitch Weiss

Overview

Do you want to be famous? Mac and Mac do. How? By doing the impossible! You'll laugh out loud at the funny adventures in this comic-style book.

First they decide to walk around the world. But when Mom says it's too far for them to go, they decide to count the stars. They reach a bazillion when they see that some of the stars have fallen into Mom's washtub.

Mac and Mac rescue the fallen stars, but then lose count. They decide to count grains of sand instead.

Then . . . while counting grains of sand, they realize THEY'VE WALKED AROUND THE WORLD!!!

This sixth book in the Noodleheads graphic novel series is perfect for comic fans and reluctant readers. Short chapters—full of wordplay, jokes, and slapstick humor—follow Mac and Mac through their funny adventures. It is co-written and illustrated by Tedd Arnold, known for his popular Fly Guy series.

Based on traditional world folktales and stories of fools, the Noodleheads encourage critical thinking. They invite readers to use their noodles to spot holes in the brothers' grand plans.

Source notes by co-authors Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss, professional storytellers known as Beauty and the Beast, provide information about the traditional stories that inspired Mac and Mac's mishaps and give suggestions for further reading.

This easy-to-read series, including the Geisel Honor book Noodleheads See the Future, is an accessible introduction to stories of fools, and a great next read for fans of the Fly Guy books.

A Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selection

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780823440030
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	09/07/2021
Series:	Noodleheads Series , #6
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	683,513
Product dimensions:	6.20(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	6 - 9 Years

About the Author

Tedd Arnold is the best-selling author-illustrator of the Fly Guy series, with two Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor books and more than 18.5 million books in print. He is author and illustrator of Dirty Gert, Vincent Paints His House, and Fix This Mess, an I Like to Read book. He is co-author and illustrator of the Noodleheads series, including Noodleheads See the Future, a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor Book, an American Library Association Notable Book, and winner of the American Folklore Society's Aesop Prize.

Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss are acclaimed storytellers who have won an Irma Simonton Black Award for Excellence in Children's Literature, two Storytelling World Awards, and an Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award. With Tedd Arnold, they are co-authors of the Noodleheads series, including Noodleheads See the Future, a Theodor Seuss Geisel Award Honor Book, an American Library Association Notable Book, and winner of the American Folklore Society's Aesop Prize.

Editorial Reviews

12/03/2021

Gr 1–3—Mac and Mac, also known as the empty-headed Noodleheads, continue confusing themselves and misinterpreting the world as only they can. In each of the three chapters of this book, Mac and Mac attempt an impossible task, each one a homage to folktales about fools. All of the anthropomorphic foods, including the Macs' mother and Uncle Ziti, have large faces and speak in simple sentences, including bolded words for emphasis. Mac and Mac turn futile attempts to "put your best foot forward" and return reflections of stars to the sky into a unique kind of fun. An afterword explains the inspirations for each story and the Noodleheads in general. VERDICT The Noodleheads have trouble accomplishing the impossible, but they easily make reading enjoyable. Another delightful entry in the series.—Thomas Maluck

School Library Journal

★ 2021-08-18
Empty-headed (literally) sibs Mac and Mac fulfill the title’s promise with their grandest, daftest quest yet.

Inspired by their uncle Ziti’s “impossible” yarn about a snake and a frog that swallowed each other, the tubular twins decide to become famous for an impossible feat of their own. But what? Walking around the world? Counting all the stars above? Or all the grains of sand below? Each turns out to present certain difficulties—after counting a “bazillion” stars, for instance, Mac and Mac find more that have fallen into their mom’s washtub and need to be rescued. “Are they heavy?” asks Mac. Mac responds: “No, they’re light.” (Ha, ha.) Adults, particularly those of a scholarly bent, will appreciate the fantastically detailed, tiny-type notes at the end about folktale motifs, variations drawn from diverse traditions, modern versions, idioms, and even the notion of “infinity.” Readers younger of age and/or heart will chortle at the Macs’ general cluelessness, then cheer them on as they do get “around the world” just in time for lunch—thanks to the intervention of frenemy Meatball, the only nonpasta player in Arnold’s foodcentric cartoon frames, who turns their shoes around while they’re napping. The little jokes embedded within the large ones are just as delightful, as when Mac and Mac try to figure out how to “always [put] your best foot forward.” It’s not as easy as grown-ups say it is.

The sources may be old, but the drollery is timeless. (Graphic early reader. 5-9)

Kirkus Reviews

★ "Readers younger of age and/or heart will chortle at the Macs’ general cluelessness, then cheer them on as they do get 'around the world' just in time for lunch. . . . The little jokes embedded within the large ones are just as delightful, as when Mac and Mac try to figure out how to 'always [put] your best foot forward.' It’s not as easy as grown-ups say it is."—Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review

"The Noodleheads have trouble accomplishing the impossible, but they easily make reading enjoyable. Another delightful entry in the series."—School Library Journal

From the Publisher