Too Much Flapdoodle!

by Amy MacDonald

Book Overview

When his parents go on vacation, twelve-year-old Parker is palmed off on his eccentric Great-aunt Mattie and Great-uncle Philbert, along with his asthma inhaler and a mile-long list of dos and don'ts. He thinks his laptop, iPod, cell phone, and Game Boy will make life on their ramshackle farm bearable - but where are the cables and batteries to make his electronic gadgets work? This over-wired boy has suddenly come unplugged Soon Parker finds himself...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0374376719
• ISBN13: 9780374376710
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
• Length: 182 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.1"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

A Fun Story About Life for a Kid Without Electronic Toys

Parker is sent to stay with his eccentric Aunt Mattie and Uncle Philbert while his parents are away for the summer. When he arrives, he discovers that there are none of the modern conveniences available to him that he is used to--no TV, laptop, cell phone, iPod, or Gameboy--because there is nowhere to plug them in. Instead, Parker finds he can have fun with his imagination. The author intends to write a fun story about life for a kid without any of the electronic devices that kids surround themselves with today; however, the author indulges in a somewhat popular theme that is usually seen in children's television: a great deal of disrespect for the adults in the story. The author portrays Parker's parents as bumbling idiots, and Parker has an equal amount of scorn for his parents and his aunt and uncle. At one point, he describes the meeting of the four adults as "[d]efinitely the Mad Hatter's tea party." As a parent, I do not allow my children to watch television shows that portray adults in this negative and scornful light, and I would apply that to this book as well. Reviewed by Kim Shultz