Review by Booklist Review
The states on the map are snoozing one night until New York wakes up the others with a bright idea: a talent show! Throughout the day, the little state-shaped figures bustle about, organizing themselves into group and individual acts, crew, and director. There are glitches, of course, but these troupers carry on, from rehearsals right through to the postproduction party and chatter. The characters (resembling thin, state-shaped puzzle pieces with large faces and wiry limbs) generate their own kind of excitement in the colorful, dynamic illustrations, created with acrylic painting and digital collage. Even the endpapers bustle with excitement and wit: lists of the states with their statehood dates and their postal code abbreviations are featured, while in the margins, tiny characters make comments and crack jokes that are right on target for the book's audience. This amusing geography-inspired picture book is a fine companion to The Scrambled States of America (1998).--Phelan, Carolyn Copyright 2008 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Keller is once again guilty of transporting laughter across state lines in this follow-up to her hit The Scrambled States of America. Who knew that the 50 states were such a bunch of hams? She shows readers the backstage histrionics: California demands to talk to his agent when Georgia gets a bad case of stage fright, and Hawaii doesn't get the answer she seeks when she asks Kansas: "Does this grass skirt make my butte look big?" But the show must go on--and it does with every possible kind of act, from Minnesota the Magician (who seems to saw South Dakota in half) to the State Impersonators (Tennessee and Wyoming form Oklahoma and then ask, "What's up with this handle, anyway? I mean, what am I--a state or a frying pan?"). Some fans of the first book may argue that this one isn't as geographically clever--and they could be right. But the snappy dialogue flows effortlessly, the personalities are as winning as ever, and the pictures' energy never flags. It's e pluribus boffo! Ages 4-9. (Aug.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-5-A geography lesson par excellence, this clever picture book also offers great extension opportunities for the classroom. Through the voice of Uncle Sam, Keller suggests that the individual states of America have become tired of their physical positions and bored with their contiguous partners. So they decide to switch: Arizona, for example, trades places with South Carolina, Florida with Minnesota, and Kansas with Hawaii. Before long, however, they discover, as Dorothy did in The Wizard of Oz, that there's no place like home, and they all return, amid much mayhem, to their original spots. In following their journeys, children will not only become involved in their stories but will also learn a lot about the "the good old U.S. of A." Keller's imaginative story, her pop-art illustrations that sprawl in and around the text, and her amusing asides will have kids quickly chiming in with sayings of their own. The clever personifications of the states will stimulate students to research the individual characteristics of their own homes, as well as those of the other states. A graphic fact chart is appended along with a montage of funny cartoons that show mixed-up sites and mascots, as Kansas sunflowers cross the Golden Gate Bridge, Florida oranges race Kentucky Derby horses, and the Statue of Liberty greets the faces on Mt. Rushmore.-Barbara Elleman, Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Tired of being stuck in the same old places, the states decide to swap spots with one another. With generous dollops of wacky, wisecracking humor, and a mixed-media art style that creates states with loads of personality, newcomer Keller has created a madcap story and a geography lesson rolled into one. From HORN BOOK Spring 1999, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
Ten years after their memorable debut the states once again pop open their wide eyes, leap up on pipestem limbs and strut their stuff--this time on stage in a display of talent that ranges from the heartthrob singing of New York and New Mexico as "New States On The Block" to Michigan using its Upper Peninsula in a ventriloquist act and Wyoming linking with Tennessee to impersonate Oklahoma. Rendering her performers with flashbulb intensity and reasonably accurate borders, Keller sends them gamboling with abandon across spreads strewn with hilarious side comments (Idaho: "Does this grass skirt make my BUTTE look big?"), as well as abbreviations and statehood dates. Closing with a bit of traditional stagecraft by having shy Georgia visualize fellow states in their underwear to get over a case of stage fright, this exuberant geographical jamboree will definitely leave readers in a state. (Picture book. 6-8) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
