My son loves the Wimpy Kid books but there is also another series of books that he just thinks is “epic!” Have you heard of the Aldo Zelnick books? These are hardcover novels for 7-to 13-year olds and feature the hybrid half-text, half-illustration format made popular by the Wimpy Kids books. This series stars 10-year-old Aldo Zelnick, a budding artist who hates physical activity but loves bacon. When Aldo’s grandmother gives him a blank sketchbook for recording “all his artsy-fartsy Ideas,” he reluctantly begins writing and drawing the story that becomes the first book in the alphabetical series, Artsy-Fartsy. We had the honor of reviewing the books from the start and my son has been hooked since that first book.
My son has loved every book since so he was quite excited when we heard that Egghead was published this past May by Bailiwick Press. We were curious to find out if Egghead would be as awesome as the previous books. We were delighted to see that Egghead does not disappoint! Egghead continues the laugh-out-loud adventures of 10-year old Aldo Zelnick as he decides to dress as Einstein for Halloween and has an epic falling-out with his bilingual best friend, Jack. This book should be a must-read for all middle school children. The story is something kids (even younger than middle-school) can relate to and also something they will enjoy reading. I love to see how much this one made my son laugh out-loud. Unique to this series is the emphasis on vocabulary. Each book seamlessly integrates fun and challenging words starting with the title letter. Egghead features extraordinary E words, such as eccentric and erudite. Each book also includes a back-of-the-book glossary with the words aptly (and amusingly) defined-and sometimes illustrated-in Aldo’s voice and hand. My son says that this series is epic because it is so funny and Aldo is cool. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in Time, Egghead is also an homage to the dark-and stormy-night classic.
Author Karla Oceanak has been a writer and editor for more than 20 years and speaks on children’s literacy. Illustrator Kendra Spanjer is also a studio artist. Bailiwick Press is a new micro-press specializing in humorous yet meaningful fiction for children and young adults. For more information, visit the Bailiwick Press website and www.aldozelnick.com
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