Spring Reading 2019 Teeny Weenies: Freestyle Frenzy and Teeny Weenies: The Intergalactic Petting zoo

                  

I picked up ARCs of these books at ALA Midwinter and you should know that they are just as funny as the original series. Author David Lubar says that he wrote these shorter collections after a librarian mentioned that younger readers would also enjoy stories like those in the Weenies books, and he listened to her. (Hooray for that!)

These stories are just as silly or strange as the originals with plenty of surprise twists and belly laughs, but not quite as scary. Readers find out about what aliens do when they kidnap humans. Bullies become "beanie weenies" at a cookout. There's the "Left Hand of Dorkiness" where the kids learn not to call the lunch lady a witch (and the author riffs on an Ursula K. LeGuin title). In case anyone didn't know, "The best way to  get a Weenie to do something is to make him think it's a prank." Map reading skills from a video game save the day for a Weenie on vacation. And a couple of carnival Weenies encounter a horde of zombies.

Scheduled for release in April, these anthologies are great for fans of the "Diary of Wimpy Kid" movies who still want a shorter read, or who enjoy short stories for the ease of dipping in and out of a book. Bill Mayer, who has done the cover art for the original series, has created wonderful illustrations for the interiors of these new titles - including a full-page with multiple panels (like a comic book) for the beginning of each story.

If you have chapter book readers who still want some illustrations mixed in and prefer a book under 150 pages, then hand them this series. They will thank you.