Leave it to Mac Barnett to create this zany series about his childhood adventures as a spy. (You read that right. Whether you believe it is up to you.) In this second book he describes the case of stolen Crown Jewels. Imagine being a kid and having the Queen of England send for you to help her out. Of course, it is a bummer that the summons came just as Mac was about to win at a nearly impossible video game. Instead, "The screen flashed the saddest two words in the English language: Game Over."
But there is plenty of humor to offset such sad scenes. Readers will learn that in British English pants = underwear, so don't ever say that you will beat the pants off someone. Besides tracking down the missing jewels and dodging assassination attempts, Mac also gives the Queen some advice about gifts. "The best gifts are those you can read -" he explains.
Combine a young Mac with a Queen who thinks the nest gifts are wearable, a Corgi named Freddie (along with quite a few other Corgis), a beefeater named Holcroft, and the odd cobra or so ... and you get a rollicking adventure with illustrations designed to make you laugh your pants, uhm, trousers off.
As Mac says, "This message will now self-destruct, unless the publisher decided we didn't have the budget for that."
Hand this to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and other heavily illustrated stories of childhood exploits.
I read an advance copy provided by the publisher for review purposes. Any quotes may change in wording in the finished edition of the text.
But there is plenty of humor to offset such sad scenes. Readers will learn that in British English pants = underwear, so don't ever say that you will beat the pants off someone. Besides tracking down the missing jewels and dodging assassination attempts, Mac also gives the Queen some advice about gifts. "The best gifts are those you can read -" he explains.
Combine a young Mac with a Queen who thinks the nest gifts are wearable, a Corgi named Freddie (along with quite a few other Corgis), a beefeater named Holcroft, and the odd cobra or so ... and you get a rollicking adventure with illustrations designed to make you laugh your pants, uhm, trousers off.
As Mac says, "This message will now self-destruct, unless the publisher decided we didn't have the budget for that."
Hand this to fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and other heavily illustrated stories of childhood exploits.
I read an advance copy provided by the publisher for review purposes. Any quotes may change in wording in the finished edition of the text.
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