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  • The Book That Almost Rhymed

The Book That Almost Rhymed

Author
Omar Abed
Illustrator
Hatem Aly
Publication Date
March 26, 2024
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction /  2nd − 3rd
Language
English
Format
Picture Book
The Book That Almost Rhymed
Description

Every great adventure needs a hero--or two! This playful take on storytelling and equity proves that two tellers can make a rhyming tale twice as nice.

What do you do with an interrupting sibling? Especially when she's stepping all over your story with wild ideas that don't. Even. Rhyme. Knights riding rockets? Dancing pirates? Who's ever heard of a fire-breathing armadillo?!

But when this big brother realizes his sister just might be improving his yarn--and doing it with an impressive surprise of her own--it's clear what you do with an interrupting sibling. You share the narrative! Turns out adventure is way more fun when you build it together, rhyme by daring rhyme.

"Sure to amuse." --Booklist (starred review)

"Riotous" --Kirkus

"Sprightly . . . Energetic." --Publishers Weekly

Publication date
March 26, 2024
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593406380
Lexile Measure
510
Publisher
Dial Books
BISAC categories
JUV019000 - Juvenile Fiction | Humorous Stories
JUV039050 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Emotions & Feelings
JUV013070 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Siblings

ALA/Booklist

Starred Review

Sure to amuse.

Kirkus

Readers will have a fine time [and] won't be averse to the verse. 

Publishers Weekly

Abed's rhyming prowess propels this sprightly picture book that follows two siblings jointly composing an adventure. Employing simple couplets, a tan-skinned youth sets the scene: "The other day I wrote this book./ You won't believe how long it took." Enter brown-skinned sis, who disrupts the lines with jarring concluding phrases ("She ruined every rhyming verse, / so now my story sounds much--// MORE MAGNIFICENT!"). The narrator persists in trying to craft the conventional tale of a knight's daring search for treasure, but plot twists abound as the sister's alternatives insert a rocket, dancing pirates, and a fire-breathing armadillo. Just as the conceit seems clear, the suggestions become workable rhymes, and the siblings at last find a collaborative scheme. Aly's energetic digital renderings lean on graphics and sketched overlays to capture the duo's narrative exploits. Ages 3-7. (Mar.)

Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

Omar Abed
Omar Abed is a Palestinian-American author and software engineer who thinks in rhyme. When tasked long ago to "write without rhyming," he couldn't quite figure it out, so he wrote The Book That Almost Rhymed instead, which became his debut picture book with a major publisher. Omar lives with his family in Northern Virginia, where he enjoys watching movies with hiswife and building blanket forts with his son.

Hatem Aly is an Egyptian-born illustrator whose work has been featured on television and in multiple publications worldwide. Among other books, he illustrated the Newbery Honor winning novel The Inquisitor's Tale by Adam Gidwitz and co-created the Yasmin series with Saadia Faruqi. Hatem currently lives in New Brunswick, Canada, with his wife, son, and more pets than people.
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