Sick Simon

by Dan Krall, Dan Krall (Illustrator)

Overview

Sick Simon is about to learn that having a cold isn’t nearly as fun as he thought. (And also that he should wash his hands.) A clever book about learning what do (and not to do) during cold and flu season.

Simon is going to have the best week ever.
Who cares if he has a cold? And sneezes everywhere, and coughs on everyone, and touches everything.
Germs call him a hero!

Everyone else calls him...Sick Simon.
When will it end?
How far will he go?
Will the germs take over?
Or can Sick Simon learn to change his ways?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781534483422
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	04/14/2020
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	48
Sales rank:	370,831
Product dimensions:	8.30(w) x 10.40(h) x 0.20(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Dan Krall is an author, illustrator, and an animator. He worked as a character designer on the popular films How to Train Your Dragon and Coraline. He was also the art director for the television shows Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Chowder, and Samurai Jack, as well as a Development Artist for Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, The PowerPuff Girls, and Dexter’s Laboratory. He lives with his wife and daughter in Los Angeles.

Dan Krall is an author, illustrator, and an animator. He worked as a character designer on the popular films How to Train Your Dragon and Coraline. He was also the art director for the television shows Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Chowder, and Samurai Jack, as well as a Development Artist for Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, The PowerPuff Girls, and Dexter’s Laboratory. He lives with his wife and daughter in Los Angeles.

Editorial Reviews

"Will get kiddos giggling"

January 2015 - Booklist

"Will get kiddos giggling"

January 2015 - Booklist

12/01/2014
Gr 1–3—Simon receives a hero's medal from some germs after he relentlessly passes his messy cold to his family, friends, and school acquaintances. When he learns the ways he's contracted and spread the malady, he begins proper hygiene and recovers, as do his victims, until another child with a runny nose enters the classroom. Readers who relish the gross humor at the beginning may balk at the didactic climax and resolution. The author's big-head Photoshop cartoons reveal his background in television animation. This style is also evident in the all-round hyperbole. Mucus gushes from noses, Simon vomits out of the school bus window, and a giant protozoa brags about his gift of diarrhea. Why the parents, teachers, or school nurse don't intervene remains a mystery. Educators may choose this title to reinforce health rules or prompt "ewwws" in the classroom.—Gay Lynn Van Vleck, Henrico County Library, Glen Allen, VA

School Library Journal

2014-10-01
Krall's latest is a disgusting, tongue-in-cheek lesson in contagiousness. Simon loves school so much that even a cold (with its attendant snotty nose) won't keep him home. He kisses his family and boards the bus, proceeding to vomit out the window on the way: "He…had fun the whole way," the text understates. The merest contact or proximity leads others to suddenly, and unrealistically, sport Simon's symptoms. The week includes show-and-tell, a zoo field trip, a game of kickball and a child-free bus on Friday afternoon, all the children having finally succumbed to his illness. The three germs that have been following him around all week finally introduce themselves and high-five him for being such a "germ hero." Horrified, Simon does his best to stop their spread, washing his hands, covering his mouth, resting and hydrating, though the same cannot be said for one classmate on Monday morning. Krall's illustrations work in the ick factor, his Photoshopped characters sporting oozing and dripping poison-green noses as each comes into contact with Simon. Careful observers may spot the colorful germs before they introduce themselves, but even those who don't will want to go back and try to find all their appearances. Though the science is not particularly solid, the message is an important one, and with the level of gross in the illustrations, it is sure to get through to young audiences. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews