Through zany, brightly colored illustrations and rhyming verse, Arnold explores common figures of speech that amaze and frighten a young boy. "I'll bet that broke your heart," "give him a hand," "Hold your tongue," and "jumps out of his skin" are only a few of the sayings that worry the protagonist, whose imaginings are energetically depicted in colored-pencil and watercolor washes. Goofy, cartoonlike artwork explores the deepest recesses of the child's overwrought and overworked imagination. Kids will love faces cracking, lungs being coughed up, and bodies flying apart. Vivid color and a robust artistic style will attract younger children who may not get the joke, but older children and parents will. Singsong verses in hand-lettered text strain to rhyme in some instances, with a forced, uneven gait. Although the boy's parents reassure him, the story ends where it begins. The father, who "didn't mean to be unkind," tells the child that they were afraid that he'd lost his mind. The final drawing has the boy's brain falling out of his head and onto the floor. This story is like a wild and crazy, totally manic Amelia Bedelia. Children will ask for it again and again. Alice Casey Smith, Sayreville Public Schools, Parlin, NJ Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.