Late for School (Hardcover)

Comedian Martin's (The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z!) album of banjo songs won a Grammy last year; "Late for School," one of the songs, is included here on a CD. In printed form, without Martin's inimitable delivery, the lyrics read a little raggedly ("Woke up this morning/ Clock said I was late for school/ Teacher told me that's not cool/ Gotta put my shirt and pants on"), but in Payne's (Turkey Bowl) hands, Martin's goofy verse achieves its comic impact on a cinematic scale. The boy's eyebrows shoot up and his lips purse with wild exaggeration as he jams his legs into his shorts; sporting a baseball jersey and a brush cut, he races downstairs, dashes across a neighbor's swimming pool, his feet and legs a blur as he logrolls a pool toy, then grabs a kite and lands on the football field with minutes to spare. (It's Saturday, of course.) Kids will relish Martin's subversive madness-especially the image of the boy elbowing his grandmother facedown into her pie as he rockets out of the house. Ages 4-8. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved