The Geezer in the Freezer Book

When our young hero heads to the basement in search of ice cream, he gets the surprise of his life instead! There’s a geezer in the freezer, all right—huddled in among the ice cream and leftover turkey. From this simple premise, Randall Wright’s rollicking rhyme unfolds a silly story that will tickle funny bones and thaw out even deep-frozen hearts.

Children's Literature

"There's a geezer in our freezer," reports our young narrator in rollicking rhymes. "Huntin' for some ice cream," he feels an "eerie thrill" as he spots the shivering old man "with his edge turning blue." Each time he fetches something from the freezer, the old guy is there, pathetically requesting a coat, or a bite to eat. When the boy reports these events to his deaf Aunt May, she dismisses the thought. Finally he asks the frozen fellow what he is doing there. He tells of being sent to fetch something from the freezer by the woman he loves, getting stuck there, and, he fears, forgotten. Our hero solves his problem by pushing the defrost button, for a happy ending to the zany tale. For his visual version of this comic rhyme, Wickstrom uses oil paints to create solid cartoon-y characters, including the family dog, in scenes with enough details to support the absurd premise. The old man with white hair and mustache, glasses down his nose, is a pathetic picture as he gazes out the opening freezer door on the jacket/cover. But there is no suggestion of serious injury as the illustrations emphasize the silly fun. Reviewer: Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz