Barnacle Is Bored
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- $10.99
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- $10.99
Publisher Description
Barnacle is bored. Bored. Bored. Bored.Barnacle is stuck on the underside of a pier, wishing he had something to do. Every day is exactly the same. The tide comes in and Barnacle gets wet. The tide goes out and Barnacle dries off. Boring! Barnacle wants something EXCITING to happen. Then a colorful fish swims by. Barnacle bets the fish doesn't have a boring life. In the end, it turns out exciting isn't always better. . .
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In a mischievous skit of a story, Geisel Award Honoree Fenske (A Pig, a Fox, and a Box) introduces a dyspeptic barnacle for whom the sea grass is always greener until it isn't. Affixed to the underside of a dock, Barnacle has an existence that's low on mobility and big on routine. "Every day is the same," he groans. "The tide comes in. I am wet and cold. The tide goes out. I am dry and hot." Fenske gives Barnacle pale limbs that dangle in the water like idle fingers and a range of grimaces and half-lidded glares. After a dopey-looking yellow fish shows up, it triggers a series of jealous imaginings ("I bet he dives with dolphins. I bet he soars with sailfish") that abruptly ends with the arrival of a hungry eel it turns out that being bored beats being lunch. From narration that consists entirely of Barnacle's mopey monologue to a dockside environment defined by creamy blue water, a bit of sand, and a couple planks, Fenske keeps it simple, deploying his closing jokes with confident comic timing. Ages 3 5.
