SAY WHAT?

Something’s not right at the Robinson house. Sukie and her big brothers, Brian and Reed, are behaving and misbehaving as any little kids do, but absent are the normal parental admonitions. When Sukie runs with glitter in the house, instead of the expected angry response, her father asks, “If all your friends jumped off a bridge, would you jump off a bridge too?” Huh? The kids are confused and wonder if their parents are losing their minds. Even after a hastily convened all-kid meeting, they cannot figure it out. Only after overhearing their parents talking do they understand: their parents are trying out a parenting strategy—and that sets the kids in motion with a counter strategy of their own. Bernardin’s detailed pencil drawings catch the mischievous tone perfectly. Humorous situations, familiar parent-speak applied at the funniest times, and a hilarious war of words add up to a pleasant family story for readers who are just ready for chapter books. (Fiction. 6-8)