★"Rex's work is always humorous, smart, and delightfully absurd, and this is no exception. The hand-painted text has beautiful artistry to it, but it’s also a tongue-tangling, deliciously metered, rhyming absurdist story that begs to be read aloud in classrooms, libraries, and homes. . . . [B]rilliantly detailed . . . the child’s expressions are masterpieces in and of themselves . . . Rex is king of the picture books. Consider this required reading."
—Booklist, starred review
Serious humor abounds in this story about one kid's hilarious misadventures with gum, and the cumulative buildup of stuff stuck in hair.
From the madcap mind of Adam Rex comes a book about the improbable, downright bizarre remedies for a problem kids have faced since the creation of gum.
• Features hilarious text with unexpected turns and fun rhymes
• Wacky suggestions make this prime for constant giggles and repeat reading
• Author Adam Rex has a funny, smart, and relatable style
How do you get gum out of your hair—a pair of scissors? Butter? The cat? Call your aunt, she'll know what to do. She doesn't? Try the fire department!
With each page turn, this situation—relatable to any family—grows stickier and more desperate.
• A wonderful blend of light wordplay, zany humor, and a timeless topic
• Perfect for fans of The Day the Crayons Quit and If You Ever Want to Bring an Alligator to School, Don't!
• Great gift for parents, grandparents, teachers, librarians, booksellers, and educators who are looking for a funny, relatable tale to read out loud
• Add it the the shelf with books like We Don't Eat Our Classmates by Ryan T. Higgins, The Legend of Rock Paper Scissors by Drew Daywalt, and The Bad Seed by Jory John
★"Rex's work is always humorous, smart, and delightfully absurd, and this is no exception. The hand-painted text has beautiful artistry to it, but it’s also a tongue-tangling, deliciously metered, rhyming absurdist story that begs to be read aloud in classrooms, libraries, and homes. . . . [B]rilliantly detailed . . . the child’s expressions are masterpieces in and of themselves . . . Rex is king of the picture books. Consider this required reading."
—Booklist, starred review
★"Conversational rhyme, cascading action, and dramatic page turns create a story of early-morning, get-ready-for-school chaos. Gum-wrapper endpaper illustrations collaged under a bubble gum–pink wash set the tone for escalating silliness . . . [On Account of the Gum is a] gloriously giggly tale glued together by a glob of very gooey gum."
—Kirkus Reviews, starred review
★"[I]n-your-face, and progressively, hilariously, outrageous. There’s an offbeat rhythm to the sometimes-rhyming text that, likewise, keeps listeners guessing. . . . The humor is in the page-turn. . . A rollicking cumulative tale that many listeners will want to choose and re-chew-se."
—Horn Book Magazine, starred review
"Snappy second-person verse enumerates a family’s vain efforts to remove a blob of shocking pink bubblegum as Rex (Unstoppable) dreams up ever-grosser remedies for the hairy dilemma."
–Publishers Weekly
"In Adam Rex's divine picture-book comedy of errors . . . Rex (School's First Day of School; Nothing Rhymes with Orange; Unstoppable), a master of meshuggaas, hastens along the humor with caricaturish illustrations in a fruity palette perfectly suited to the asimmer-with-irritation kid's hair wear, which comes to resemble a Carmen Miranda hat gone berserk. But underneath the silliness, On Account of the Gum harbors a substantive, empowering message. To borrow the book's idiom: There's a point to all of this rat-a-tat rhyme/ It turns out the kid had the cure the whole time."
—Shelf Awareness
"Rex serves a delightful and laugh-out-loud read. . . . The timing is perfect, as the page turn lands the punchline. . . . [On Account of the Gum is a] grand comedy that will engage readers and please Rex’s many fans."
—School Library Journal
"[A]lready giggling audience[s will] burst into belly laughs."
—The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books