Nothing Rhymes with Orange

by Adam Rex

Overview

We all know nothing rhymes with orange. But how does that make Orange feel? Well, left out! When a parade of fruit gets together to sing a song about how wonderful they are—and the song happens to rhyme—Orange can't help but feel like it's impossible for him to ever fit in. But when one particularly intuitive Apple notices how Orange is feeling, the entire English language begins to become a bit more inclusive. Beloved author-illustrator Adam Rex has created a hilarious yet poignant parable about feeling left out, celebrating difference, and the irrefutable fact that nothing rhymes with orange. Plus, this is the fixed format version, which looks almost identical to the print edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781452157597
Publisher:	Chronicle Books LLC
Publication date:	08/01/2017
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	48
File size:	16 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	5 - 8 Years

About the Author

Adam Rex is the author and illustrator of many beloved picture books and novels, including the New York Times bestseller Frankenstein Makes a Sandwich, and has worked with the likes of Jon Scieszka, Mac Barnett, and Jeff Kinney. He lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Editorial Reviews

★ 05/29/2017
Rex (XO, OX: A Love Story) takes the conventional wisdom of the title and runs with it. He paints hands, feet, and antic cartoon faces on photos of fruit, sets them against brown-paper-bag backgrounds, then imagines them improvising a bunch of Burma Shave–style jingles in praise of fruit. An apple and a pear begin (“Who wouldn’t travel anywhere/ to get an apple or a pear?”), and a lonely orange watches the fun from the sidelines: “I’ll be back here if you need me,” it mutters. The rhymes grow ever more outrageous (“a lychee is just peachy./ Thus Spoke Zarathustra is a book by Friedrich Nietzsche”) and the mayhem snowballs. Off in his corner, the orange seethes, especially after a pear bitten by a wolf becomes a pearwolf (“This book’s sorta gone off the rails,” it grumps). A big fruit party ensues (Nietzsche is there, so are yams for some reason), and the group finally acknowledges the orange with a rhyme all its own, nonsensical though it may be. A sly concept, deft artwork, and unflagging energy make this a winner. Ages 5–8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"You will never, ever, ever find a better, truer, more big-hearted poetic saga about an orange, a lychee, and dancing Friedrich Nietzsche. It begs to be sung aloud. And will make you a better person. Completely beyond good and evil!" -Jon Scieszka, first National Ambassador for Young People's Literature. Smorange.

"This book is peachy, fresh and funny! It's worth every cent of your hard-earned money!"- Geisel Award Winner Laurie Keller

"Not since Carmen Miranda took up hat-making, has fruit been this funny and fabulous!" -Caldecott Honor recipient Molly Idle

"The absurd and the organic come together in a hilarious ode to fruit, fun, and friendship. Adam Rex proves that he is the Bard of Produce." -New York Times bestselling author/illustrator LeUyen Pham

"Fresh and funny, readers will go bananas over Orange's angst and antics in this delightfully appealing new book by Adam Rex." -Kelly DiPucchio, author of Dragon Was Terrible

"Hilarious! Any picture book that can work in Friedrich Nietzsche and lycanthropic pears is a winner to me." -Drew Daywalt, author of The Day the Crayons Quit

From the Publisher

Poor Orange! He is the only fruit without a rhyme. Try as he might, he just cannot fit into this laugh-out-loud picture book where grapes, bananas, peaches and pears all have suitable rhymes. Even lumpy, bumpy quince, while hardly a glamour fruit, can “convince” the author that he has a place in the book. This does not mean that Orange is excluded from the wonderful collage of real fruit with pen-and-ink facial expressions. Instead, Orange is a wry commentator, peering out from the margins, grumbling about his exclusion when even the philosopher Frederich Nietzsche, hardly a fruit, makes a guest appearance with his most famous book. Much in the way that B.J. Novak’s Book with No Pictures begs to be read aloud, Adam Rex has created a funny book with layers of laughs; with the rhymes and illustrations, taken at mostly face value, and then the understanding of the exclusion poor orange feels just because his name is uniquely unpoetic. Rex gives us a clever resolution when Orange’s friends, seeing his frustration, create a rhyming word that he can call his own. There is lots to learn and discuss here, from rhyming words to inclusion, plus fruits like lychees and quince may be unfamiliar to young readers. Meanwhile, the mix of typeface and cunning illustrations—like a cape wearing grape becoming a super fruit—will draw young readers to this exceptional book that will give them big-belly laughs. Reviewer: Lois Rubin Gross; Ages 3 to 8.

Children's Literature - Lois Rubin Gross

★ 2017-05-01
As page after page uses rhymes and puns to celebrate fruits, an orange, who is sadly aware of its nonrhyming name, provides commentary that encompasses a wide range of emotions—ending with a feeling of acceptance from the greater fruit community.Funny, clever, and whimsical text includes a plethora of both terminal and internal rhymes. The fruits are collaged photographs that have been anthropomorphized with inked-on limbs and facial expressions. The expressiveness of the faces—especially of the orange—provides an irresistible match to the text. A bold-lettered refrain celebrates fruit: "They're healthy happy colorful and cute!" The solitary orange gives various negative reactions to that litany and other verses, but readers will see through these defense mechanisms. Especially funny is the orange's response to "If you aren't a fan of cantaloupe, / then feed it to an antelope." Staring up at the large, black woodblock print of the animal, upon whose back teeters the eponymous melon, the orange comments, "Well, that was a little forced." Another treat (mostly for adults) is mustachioed Friedrich Nietzsche rhyming with "lychee" and "peachy." After the orange finally admits that the book about fruit is "amazing," a kind, observant apple brings the sulking citrus warmly into the group. Slight differences in typeface distinguish between the orange's dialogue and the rest of the text, cuing caregivers to change voices for a perfect read-aloud. Fruitful in every sense of the word. (Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews