Review by Booklist Review
In the newest adventure in this series, best friends Mr. Bing and Arnie the doughnut are part of a Tuesday night bowling league. Arnie cannot bowl (and he provides the reasons why), but he does sing karaoke and has a delightful time entertaining the crowds with old favorites: Livin' la vi-DOUGH loca and Fried in the U.S.A. Arnie is determined to help his friend win a tournament, but first he must unravel the mystery of why Mr. Bing keeps rolling gutter balls despite the fact that his favorite ball has been enhanced by lucky pink sprinkles. Several hilarious tangents keep this main conflict from being resolved too soon. Puns, sophisticated linguistic humor, and cameo appearances by Albert Einstein and other notable figures, such as Peezo the slice of pizza and an erudite French cruller make this a lively, intelligent, and highly entertaining read for young students and anyone with a sense of humor.--Chaudhri, Amina Copyright 2010 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Keller continues the saga of the fast-talking star of her 2003 picture book, Arnie the Doughnut, in this funny kickoff to a heavily illustrated chapter book series. Arnie sets the scene with a brief rehash of that story, in which Mr. Bing decides (with some persuasion) not to eat Arnie, but to adopt him as his "doughnut-dog." In this tale, Arnie accompanies Mr. Bing to the bowling alley, where his team is competing for the league championship. Arnie's wisecracking narrative, zippy dialogue and asides, exuberant typography, and riotous cartooning (Albert Einstein even makes a couple cameos) all feed the tale's full-throttle slapstick humor. Arnie sings karaoke ("Doughnut make my brown eyes blue"), leads the crowd in belting out "Take Me Out for Some Bowling" during the "seventh-frame stretch," and makes some bowling alley friends ("In fact, between the bowling balls, bowling pins, and rental shoes I've made 8 homies, 11 peeps, and 13 BFF's!"). And, as frosting on the-well, doughnut-he also discovers why Mr. Bing is throwing gutter balls. Keller shrewdly targets hesitant readers with an abundance of goofy comedy. Ages 7-10. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 2-4-Arnie the doughnut returns in a "who-donut" chapter book that will appeal to fans of Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) and Lincoln Peirce's "Big Nate" (HarperCollins) series. Iced with chocolate and covered with sprinkles, the "doughnut dog" catches readers up-to-date since he debuted in his own picture book, Arnie the Doughnut (Holt, 2003). The first chapter recaps how he became a doughnut dog and beloved friend to Mr. Bing, who instead of eating Arnie decides to adopt him as his pet. Readers then follow adventures that occur during Arnie's favorite Tuesday-night outings to the bowling alley with Mr. Bing and his buddies. Comic-style drawings fill the pages, providing abundant humor and tons of spoofy comedy for reluctant readers. Children will stay engaged as Arnie and friends try to discover why Mr. Bing keeps throwing gutter balls during the tournament when he usually is a high-scoring bowler. Does the opposing team, the Yada-Yadas, have something to do with it? With zany, quirky characters (talking pizza, break-dancing bowling pins, animated shoes) and a fast-paced, silly story line, the book will have readers looking for Arnie and Mr. Bing's next adventure.-Melissa Smith, Royal Oak Public Library, MI (c) Copyright 2013. 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 Kirkus Book Review
A bowling tournament gives the rolling raconteur introduced in the 2003 picture book Arnie the Doughnut fresh scope for wisecracks and wild misadventures. Arnie goes to the bowling alley weekly to meet his cheesy triangular friend Peezo and belt out hits (from "Livin' la vi-DOUGH loca!" to "DOUGHNUT make my brown eyes blue") at the karaoke machine for admiring crowds while his (human) buddy Mr. Bing hits the lanes. Their visits slide into a scurry of sleuthing when Mr. Bing's new ball, Betsy, inexplicably starts heading for the gutter rather than the pins on every roll. Presented in a frenetic mix of narrative, cartoon collages, dialogue balloons and melodramatic exclamations, the investigation leads the chocolate-frosted shamus to an identity thief at the end of a trail of dropped sprinkles and other clues. Unsurprisingly, it also provides opportunities aplenty to drop punch lines as well as to lay out bowling techniques and rules with help from a confused baseball umpire ("Ya see, Ump, in baseball strikes are BAD, but in bowling they're GOOD!"), Albert Einstein and other walk-ons. Like triumphant Mr. Bing, Keller walks off with a "Stiffy Stu McShiny" award for this yummy chapter-book series opener. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
