Mom and Dad Are Palindromes - Hardcover

Madam, I'm Adam McCauley is the author and illustrator of My Friend Chicken. He has also illustrated many other picture books and chapter books for children, including The Time Warp Trio series and Sideways Stories from Wayside School .

"In this tale of compulsive wordplay, flame-haired Bob (aka Robert Trebor) discovers palindromes and becomes possessed by language. He notices mirror-image words and phrases everywhere, and begins listing "My kayak. My race car. Otto, my pup .... I needed to tell Mom and Dad and...O no!" Realizing the literal truth of the book title, Bob rushes to inform his sister Anna: "You're all palindromes! Even Nan!" Anna, snacking on Doofy Food, cautions, "Level, Bob, level. You're being a kook!" Bob's apprehension increases in a way that's both funny and infectious. "It will get better, won't it now -" he reasons, unwittingly compounding the irony. Shulman (AA Is for Aardvark) and McCauley (My Friend Chicken) mimic the high anxiety of Scieszka and Smith's Math Curse, down to the speckly illustration style and playful display type. They emphasize the palindromes with old-fashioned, circus-like capital letters that suit the hyper mood perfectly; street signs, book titles and incidental background details further reveal the palindrome epidemic. Fans of Jon Agee's palindrome titles will want to check out this volume, which slyly promotes a catchy spelling game." -Publishers Weekly, starred review

"The joke builds nicely, and the illustrations are handsome." New York Times Book Review