Stuck by Oliver Jeffers
Unpgd. Philomel/ Penguin Group (USA), November, 2011. 978-399257377. (Borrowed from the public library.)
Move over Charlie Brown. Floyd's kite is stuck in a tree. Unlike Charlie Brown, who typically shakes his fist at the kite-eating tree or bangs his head against its trunk, ginger-haired, plaid shirt-wering Floyd removes his shoe and chucks it up into the tree to dislodge the kite. When it gets stuck, he tosses the other one. When that gets stuck, he doesn't worry. He fetches a variety of items from around the neighborhood, each bigger than the last. Each gets stuck.
This is sure to be a read aloud hit, as each item is increasingly ridiculous and...stuck. The intriguing quirky art "was created by compositing various scribbles and blotches of paint made on small pieces of paper inside my computer." At some points, the silhouette of the tree resembles snarled yarn or fishing line.
Teachers might have some fun challenging their students to predict what else Floyd might toss. Don't skip over the end-pages. Use it to introduce or reinforce the literary device of foreshadowing. Or not. Sometimes it's just nice to have fun with a book.