Late for School Book

Getting to school has never been quite this difficult—or hilarious. Celebrated writer and performer Steve Martin and dynamic artist C. F. Payne (illustrator of John Lithgow's children's books) have teamed up to tell a story of the adventure, danger, and laughs of the journey to school. Enclosed with the book is a CD of Martin on banjo and vocals, singing the book's story with a bluegrass twist.

Undoubtedly a new classic for readers of all ages, Late to School is the perfect gift to be read—and listened to—again and again.

Publishers Weekly

Comedian Martin's (The Alphabet from A to Y with Bonus Letter Z!) album of banjo songs won a Grammy last year; "Late for School," one of the songs, is included here on a CD. In printed form, without Martin's inimitable delivery, the lyrics read a little raggedly ("Woke up this morning/ Clock said I was late for school/ Teacher told me that's not cool/ Gotta put my shirt and pants on"), but in Payne's (Turkey Bowl) hands, Martin's goofy verse achieves its comic impact on a cinematic scale. The boy's eyebrows shoot up and his lips purse with wild exaggeration as he jams his legs into his shorts; sporting a baseball jersey and a brush cut, he races downstairs, dashes across a neighbor's swimming pool, his feet and legs a blur as he logrolls a pool toy, then grabs a kite and lands on the football field with minutes to spare. (It's Saturday, of course.) Kids will relish Martin's subversive madness--especially the image of the boy elbowing his grandmother facedown into her pie as he rockets out of the house. Ages 4-8. (Sept.)