Aw, nuts! The crumbelievable adventures of Peanut & Jelly

Gr 3--5--Set in the land of Foodtopia, Peanut and his best friend Jelly work at the second lowest job in town, the Crumb Dump, were the two friends dream of moving up the food chain while they sort crumbs. Their boss Tony, a bologna slice, is less than interested in their hopes and threatens them with a demotion to Crumb Collector if they do not stay focused on the job. Jelly, an amorphous blob of grape jelly, can transform himself into any shape--a talent that both creates and helps solve big problems. While trying to retrieve a hat, the friends unleash a toothy giant worm that lives in the dump. This horrific Crumb Feeder begins to eat everything in sight, and the intrepid duo must capture it. Using Jelly's morphing abilities, Peanut comes up with a plan and a wild chase ensues. Although they feel their dreams of reaching the "Toppings" of the Foodtopia pyramid are farther than ever, the duo values their friendship more. Color saturated drawings are embedded in varying panel sizes. Close-ups, shifting perspectives, and innovative gutter use add a sense of speed and movement. White dialogue boxes are easy to follow and read. Food puns abound, although some will pass over the intended audience's heads. VERDICT A food buddy-story that will appeal to fans of series like "InvestiGators" and "The First Cat in Space Ate Pizza." Purchase where absurdist humor is popular.--Elisabeth LeBris

Two adorable foods have an adventure in Beaudry's graphic novel for young readers, illustrated by Perry. In the colorful city of Foodtopia, different types of food live, work, and play, but their lives are governed by a strict hierarchy. As in the real world, a pyramid structure dictates where the different food items fall, but in this case, it's in terms of their power and influence. The rich and famous foods--also known as "the glitz and the ham"--sit at the top in the Toppings, while the bottom layer of this society are the Crumbs, made up of "the dreamers…the party animals…and, of course, thestrange." This latter category is where heroes Peanut and Jelly figure into Foodtopia. Peanut longs to rise to the top one day, but getting there as a lowly crumb-yard worker is a tall order, and his boss already thinks that he jokes around too much with his co-worker and best pal Jelly. His boss might just be right: When Jelly's horsing around accidentally sets loose the deadly Crumb Feeder--a giant, purple, snakelike monster--all of Foodtopia is threatened. Can Peanut and Jelly work together to contain the beast and prove their worth as top-shelf toppings? Creator and writer Beaudry's background in children's animation, including as a staff writer forMuppet Babies, can be felt throughout this romp of anthropomorphic condiments. The action-packed sequences, witty puns, Jelly's joyful attitude, and a sense of humor based in non sequiturs easily calls to mind the wonderfully absurd world ofSpongeBob SquarePants. Also, as in an animated series, the events of this graphic novel feel like a self-contained episode with low stakes and relatively easy resolutions--but the possibilities are there for more adventures investigating this fictional world. Perry's vibrant, full-color cartoon illustrations feel perfectly matched to the story's zany qualities, and Beaudry's pop-culture references and wordplay will elicit chuckles from readers of all ages: "I'm no wise-cracker," Peanut cries at one point. "I'm too brittle for that life." A swift introduction to a colorful world that's a bit light on plot but offers great jokes Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.