Books in Stickies series

Kids can produce instant poetry, inspired by these partially-written haiku. Composed by Allan Wolf, author of Immersed in Verse, they range from silly to serious, realistic to fantastic. Each poem has blank spaces for children to fill in; earlier in the pad, they’ll need to add only a word or two, while the later haiku will have kids writing nearly from scratch.

I would prefer an illness from eating _________ to spending time with you. That’s just one of the insults in this collection, and kids will absolutely love them. Some have multiple choice answers (three times the fun in one, since each response is a riot). Others are fill-ins so the writer can devise an affront that’s tailor-made for the receiver. And still more have just a touch of that “ugh!” factor that really sends children into hysterics. By pad’s end, young comedians get just a push in the right direction, with lots of room to create.

Never before has leaving a note been so much fun. That’s because each page has a cartoon to finish on top, and kids can choose whether they want to follow the image to its logical conclusion or use their imagination to come up with something unique. The pad progresses to more challenging cartoons, but it’s so enjoyable that budding artists might not realize they’re actually improving their skills. All the drawings are created by Chris Sabatino, who has produced everything from illustrations for children’s books to greeting cards and comics.

Look on the pad: there’s a scribble and a squiggle. What could they be: a dog’s nose? A monster? Teacher’s hair? A pair of socks? The artist can make that decision, because these doodles leave plenty of room for kids’ personal interpretation. Plus, the pad opens up more and more space for originality as the pages go by. Susan McBride, the doodling expert who developed the entertaining I’m So Bored Doodle Notebook, continues her winning ways here.