The Secret Knowledge of Grown-ups: The Second File

Caldecott Medal winner David Wisniewski is back, with a second helping of secret information about the real reasons behind parental rules and commands. Brush your teeth because it prevents cavities? Naaaw. By breaking into the National Dental Association (disguised as the Tooth Fairy), Wisniewski has discovered that kids should brush their teeth because not doing so causes... unrest: "Reckless incisors cavort with Ginger Vitus... Pulp Rocker Tommy Rot sings inflammatory lyrics...." Yes, Wisniewski crams in every possible pun, and his inimitable style of paper cut-out illustrations is the visually punning equivalent. The underlying idea here is fun, but it remains a mystery as to why adults would have a global conspiracy to conceal explanations that are, in the end, just more imaginative versions of the ones they do give. For example: kids should avoid junk food not because it's plain bad for them but rather because it causes each CFG (Cruddy Food Group molecule) to steal a bit of your brain and "drive it to an abandoned warehouse in an unpleasant industrial section of your body." Ordinary parental advice with a fancy hat on? Maybe. But fans who found themselves privy to the first "classified folder," The Secret Knowledge of Grownups, will be tickled with round two. (Ages 6 to 10) --Richard Farr