I Heart Crazy Narrators

How do you feel about narrators?  I usually prefer books written in first person, but I have to make an exception for The Templeton Twins Have an Idea, written by Ellis Weiner and illustrated by Jeremy Holmes.

The narrator is being forced to write this story (or so he tells us), about thirteen-year-old twins, Abigail and John. Another set of twins, Dean and Dan, kidnap Abigail and John in an effort to convince their father to hand over one of his inventions. Resourcefulness abounds :)

Each chapter includes a title page with a drawing related to the story (the diagrams sprinkled throughout were super nice - especially for people whose eyes start to glaze over when reading paragraphs describing how things are set up. I'm not actually one of those people, just guessing you know ;) ).

So, on to that fabulous narrator.  The  whole kidnapping story could have felt ho-hum, but the narrator really berates you into enjoying yourself, with his general storytelling, fun footnotes:

*Voilà! is French. You pronounce it "vwah-LAH." It means "Behold!" or "There you have it!" Other French words you may find youself using in your daily life include "restaurant," "turquoise," and "France."

and the questions for review at the end of each chapter (seriously one of the most amusing parts of the book!).  Read this one and try not to smile:

Isn't this exciting?

• Yes, very.
• Yes, exceedingly. 
• I cannot even answer this question, I am in such an advanced state of excitement.

I could go on quoting funny bits for the next hour or so, but I'm not sure the author narrator would appreciate me giving away all his amazing writing. Please read this book! :)