An amusing picture book for future business moguls! Talk about expanding one's vocabulary: negotiate, persistent, overreaching, and rational are all explained and illustrated in a way that I think most kids would get! ( )

This is witty, but teaching your kid to sell themself under neoliberalism and drive a hard bargain and all that shit is not cute, nohow. ( )

I love Lisa Lutz’s Spellman books; I enjoyed Heads You Lose and all the Spellman books are among my favorite books, and I’m eagerly looking forward to the next installment, coming out next month.

I knew about this picture book well in advance and, knowing its place in the Spellman books, thought the idea was inspired.

However, I’m disappointed.

First of all, I guess I was expecting a parody or something geared to adults, not a book published by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, although perhaps I should have had a better sense of what this book would be.

I just didn’t find it that humorous. In my opinion, the most amusing parts were the authors/illustrators bios on the inside back cover and the book’s dedications by the creators. Now, those were funny!

Now for the book proper, but first I have to disclose that I’m not reading that much these days and, as with all books, my mood at the time of reading might have impacted my opinion of this book. (I’ll bet anything though that I’ll love the next Spellman family book and find it as hilarious as I found the previous books.)

Is it my take (perhaps) or does this book take itself too seriously. If it does, it’s too didactic for my taste. It probably does though. But the humor and the execution just aren’t as brilliant or as funny as I was expecting.

Some kids might enjoy it, and might try to use the tactics on those in charge, parents and other. Some of the “advice” is actually excellent, but nothing that couldn’t be communicated without this book. Some adults might like it because it addresses getting what you want as an adult too, which makes me think this is the tongue in cheek book I’d been expecting.

And a note to vegan parents: in this book, pets are purchased from the pet shop and zoo visits are a wished for thing by the kid.

So, while I wish I owned every Spellman book, I’m glad this was a library book.

The illustrations aren’t in a style that appeals to my aesthetic taste, but they perfectly fit the story, so I like them.

I’m going to be eagerly seeing how other readers (of all ages) take to this one.

I’m confused. (Lisa Lutz and fellow readers, please don’t scream at me.)

2 ½ stars ( )