Chester van Chime who forgot how to rhyme by Avery Monsen and Abby Hanlon

I've been going through a lot of new picture books recently, but I haven't found any that hit my criteria of raucously funny and worthy of taking to school visits. Past hits have included Misunderstood Shark, Panda Problem, I can only draw worms, and This is a moose. However, this silly rhyming, guessing story just might fit the bill.

A quirky little kid with a cowlick named Chester Van Chime wakes up one day to discover he has forgotten how to match the sounds of two words. The "story" romps on from there as his family, classmates, and others try to restore Chester's rhyming mojo, with a plethora of rhymes, to no avail. Only when Chester relaxes and returns to the fun of playing with words does he remember how to rhyme.

Hanlon, creator of the Dory Fantasmagory series, shows her artistic ability to its best advantage here with a dizzying array of tiny creatures, cartoons, and images waltzing across the pages. This story reminded me of Mac Barnett's Guess Again and although it doesn't have quite that raucous humor I'm looking for, I'm hoping that kids, especially those who have grasped the concept of rhyming, will find the unexpected twists hilarious and enjoy the Seussian rhymes that are not completed throughout the book.

Verdict: I'm personally not a fan of rhyming books, but I think this is one that kids and adults can enjoy and will hopefully be funny as well as a good match for practicing rhymes.

ISBN: 9780759554825; Published March 2022 by Little Brown; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library