The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups

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Summary: Top Secret Files Revealed!
Review: An adult has done the unthinkable! Broken the secret adult pact and published confidential files telling kids the truth about various rules we adults have passed onto them under the misconception that these rules were for their own good. David Wisniewski reveals the truth that the real reason we eat vegetables is to keep them in their place so they do not take over the world and eat us, instead of the lies we tell that vegetables are good for you. Other secrets he reveals include the reason why grown ups say drink plenty of milk, that combing your hair is not to keep it neat, why you shouldn't blow bubbles in your milk, why you shouldn't play with your food, why you shouldn't jump on your bed, why you shouldn't bite your fingernails and why you shouldn't pick your nose.

This book has been published with great illustrations made from cutting little bits of paper and gluing them into very detailed pictures. The only thing that lets this book down for kids and thankfully saves us adults is that there are only a few myths unveiled. This of course makes it extremely likely that David Wisniewski will release a sequel but you'd think if he had the secrets he could have made this book a bit thicker and included them in the one book. As an adult I can only say that I hope the book is so thin because these are the only confidential files he has managed to steal. Wait a minute he is an adult isn't he? So why does he even need the files since he already knows the answers. I predict Mr Wisniewski's motives are not just to publish the truth for kids but to make money along the way and that this is the first in a planned series of sequels. I enjoyed this enough that I'll check them out as well.


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Summary: A Visit From the Truth Fairie by garrie keyman
Review: At last the truth has been revealed thanks to David Wisniewski, winner of the 1997 Caldecott Medal for excellence in children's literature. I knew there had to be a better reason than "because I told you so!" In the clever vehicle of a top-secret file (even the cover is designed to look like one of those yellow intra-office manila folders), Wisniewski drives home his points with wry humor and fantastic photography of his cut-paper illustrations.

Peruse the pages of this wildly creative take on the hidden truth behind the rules grown-ups impose on children and you will find the answers to such conundrums as why kids are always being told to eat their vegetables (millions of years ago man-eating vegetables ruled the earth and eating them became a necessary means of preventing vegetables from regaining power) and to drink their milk (doing so in fact stops atomic cows from exploding - read book for fascinating details!).

Other truths finally revealed include why kids are told not to blow bubbles in their milk, not to play with their food, not to jump on beds and not to bite their fingernails. A great addition to your home library (or one you can borrow from your local public variety) if you have anyone under ninety-nine living in your house who has an imagination and likes to laugh.

When you're through reading Wisniewski's uncovered truths, you might want to do a little sleuthing of your own (and feel free to send me your discoveries). After all, I'm still waiting to have a few things explained to me, like why everyone constantly worries kids will spoil their appetite when they're always hungry anyway, and why picking up toys is so important since they just wind up right back on the floor the following day? And what about that washing-behind-the-ears thing? Who looks behind other people's ears? And how about eating the crust of your bread, and then how about -- well, you get the idea.

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Summary: Parents Always Tell You To Read Because You'll Grow Up Smart
Review: But the REAL reason is to keep hillarious books like this from literally JUMPING OFF THE SHELVES. Yes, it's true. Researchers have discovered from the secret files of adults that unless books constantly have the ink read off of them by studious kids, ink build-up on pages leads to inkblot concentrations that cause special smudge protons (SPs) to destabilize (and Rorshack test-givers to completely whack out,) thus making books highly projectile. A copy of Roberts Rules of Order, having been unread for about 60 years, once flew off the shelves of a library in Shelbyville, Indiana, travelled thousands of miles, leaving a plume of library dust over 5 western states and landed in the swimming pool of a Hollywood film producer, leaving the movie maker so shocked he had to discontinue production of a screen adaptation of Huckleberry Finn starring cute computer generated alien creatures and a giant green bean.

So kids, if you don't want your overhyped PG movies delayed or you don't want to wear helmets in study hall...READ THIS AND MANY OTHER BOOKS!

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Summary: The Real Reasons Behind All Those Rules.....
Review: Have you ever wondered why your parents are always telling you to eat your vegetables or comb your hair? Is there really a sensible reason why you shouldn't blow bubbles in your milk, jump on your bed or bite your fingernails? David Wisniewski has gone undercover and after years of investigating has discovered the terrible truths to these and other age-old directives kids have blown off as just "parents being parents". Now the terrifying explanations are all here for the entire world to see and life as we know it, will never be the same..... With the clever look of a confidential, classified, top secret folder, Mr Wisniewski has written a zany, entertaining, over the top dossier that will have youngsters laughing out loud and rolling in the aisles. The hilarious, text, told in hip, kid-speak language is full of jokes and puns and complemented by bright, bold, wacky artwork. Kids will really love poring over these amazing, detailed illustrations. Perfect for youngsters 8-12, The Secret Knowledge of Grown-Ups is just pure fun and a book you don't want to miss.

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Summary: I had to buy three copies
Review: One of my children brought this home from the library and all of us were quickly convulsed with laughter. We had often joked with our kids about the "real reasons" that we asked them to do things, but David Wisniewski did a much better job of expanding and illustrating these types of fantasies. I decided to buy two--one for each of my office waiting rooms. However, my kids could not bear to part with one copy so I got three. Some of Mr. Wisniewski's scenarios get mentioned regularly around our dinner table, "Eat your vegetables so they won't eat you--I think I see a claw coming out from your salad!"

Sometimes I use this book to illustrate more serious issues. Conflicting agendas: When a family has a problem, the parents and the children often define the problem differently and have different hopes for the outcome. Power differences: Young children may see adults as having secret information and mysterious conversations behind closed doors. This book helps parents and kids look at these issues gently and laugh about them. This may soften the way toward discussing a family's conflicts and differing points of view.

The illustrations are excellent detailed cutouts. They are bold and dramatic. He makes use of multiple textures to give the cutouts a 3-dimensional fee. Some of the pictures are "gross." If you pick your nose, your brain may deflate. But the "gross-out" factor is funny, not scary or violent.

I get the sense that the author must be a funny, kind individual. I wish he could come to my son's school to teach a class on cutout art.

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Summary: The Secret Knowledge Of Grown-Ups
Review: This book is a riot! One of my 5th grade students used to ask to dust my room rather than read...now he asks for more books like this one! Kids and grownups alike will love this book.

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Summary: The Secret Knowledge Of Grown-Ups
Review: This book was a great book if you want some excitement and laughter. Of course it isn't true, although I had to question myself about that at first. The rules David Wisniewski (author) talks about in this book are rules you've probably heard your parents say a million times. Now, (if you read the book), you'll know the reasons why parents say these rules. The reasons David Wisniewski makes up are funny and seem so real. They'll make you laugh. The exciting part is that these reasons are parts of secret files that haven't ever been shown to kids before. Also, the illustrations are lively and colorful. They are interesting and the fun to look at. You won't be able to put this book down, and you'll never get tired of reading it. Every time I read it, it makes me laugh. (The author, David Wisniewski, is a Caldecott Medal winner.)

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Summary: So Sad to Say ... One Page Ruined It All!
Review: This delightful book is one of the most imaginative I've read in ages. Unfortunately in the process of naming and describing the five fingers, it reads: "The Dirty Digits ... This bunch of middle fingers just stands around. Thats bad enough." Then it refers to the little fingers as "Hell's Pinkies". I am no where close to being a prude, but I choose not to read that to my grandaughter. She'll find out about such things soon enough, but I won't be the one to introduce it to her. I returned the book, and am so disappointed that I am unable to share the other 45 pages of cleaver words and pictures with her.