Wish You Were Here (And I Wasn't): A Book of Poems and Pictures for Globe Trotters

Colin McNaughton is madly popular, best known for his zany, offbeat humor and goofy puns. In his latest collection of poems and wordplay, he tackles world (and otherworld) travel. Grownups and children alike will spend uproarious hours with these deliciously ridiculous verses about traveling in Transylvania, row-row-rowing your bath, flying like Icarus, and disastrous alien vacations:

They hog the lounge chairs round the pool,
Splash other guests and play the fool.
They write with spray paint ALIENS RULE!
Aliens on vacation!

From carsickness, flying fear, and summer madness resulting in nakedly frolicking parents; to perfect beach days, beauty queens from the planet Flong ("She weighs 14 tons and she smells of old fish./ If you think that she's ugly--you're wrong!"), and swimming in your underpants, McNaughton covers the full range of travel wonders and woes. His pictures are chock full of nonsense, jungle beasts, and pleasantly slimy monsters. So spend an hour or six in sheer pleasure, discovering the power of words to make you laugh--and think. McNaughton has previously charmed the world with many award-winning titles, including Making Friends with Frankenstein: A Book of Monstrous Poems and Pictures and Who's Been Sleeping in My Porridge? A Book of Wacky Poems and Pictures. (Ages 6 and older) --Emilie Coulter