“Is it fun? Hello! It’s a Lemoncello!” is the catchphrase of Chris Grabenstein’s series Mr. Lemoncello’s Library. This laugh-out-loud author has written and co-authored 45 books! On top of that he has written for the Muppets, a movie for CBS called “A Christmas Gift,” and the plays “Curiosity Cat” and “The Island of Dr. Libris” based on his book “The Island of Dr. Libris.”
I like these books because they are a mixture of riddles, games, adventure, books and libraries. So far, there are three books in the series, with plans for the fourth book. Last fall, an “Escape from Mr. Lemoncello’s Library” movie aired on Nickelodeon.
Grabenstein was at our very own Festival of Books! He had a “make a story on the spot” event, which I went to! Many kids participated, and the result? One of the funniest stories I’ve ever heard. It was about a raccoon named Joe who sold Cheetos on the Black Market to buy Takis.
The story started with Joe saying to his mother, “But mom, I DON’T KNOW WHAT A VERB IS!” Once he left the house, he got caught by a dog working for Cheetos Inc., who chased him to the Takis store. The store owner gave him a balloon and he bought some Takis. When he ate one, however, his tongue felt like it was on fire and the store owner offered him a gallon of milk. Joe said, “Nah, milk tastes better after eating cereal.” And for some reason, that’s the end!