ALA Booklist (Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 CST 1998)

Wisniewski takes the role of spy in this goofball book that bears absolutely no resemblance to anything he's done before. The setup is certainly imaginative: a rogue parent (presumably Wisniewski) goes behind the scenes to expose the real truth behind some of the familiar directives parents give to their kids, among them, Drink your milk, Don't bite your fingernails, and Don't jump on your bed. To do that, he dons a variety of insane disguises, not the least of which is a scuba diver swimming in a huge chocolate milk shake. The humorous truth reveals a world gone awry, where predatory potatoes roam the earth and picking your nose deflates your brain. The over-the-top comedy won't appeal to everyone, nor will kids catch all the jokes, which are occasionally pretty obscure. But a lot of children will really love the zaniness, and, as usual, Wisniewski's brightly colored paper-cut collages are extraordinary. Picture paper-cut fanged vegetables gone crazy and furry mattresses with tails jumping across mountain peaks, and you've got the idea. (Reviewed March 1, 1998)

Horn Book (Sat Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 1998)

Detective Wisniewski comes to the aid of children everywhere by revealing the truth behind adult rules. For example, the real reason adults tell kids not to jump on their beds is because it might wake up the mattresses, which are "active woolly creatures raised on farms in Scotland." The humor is sophomoric, and Wisniewski's cut-paper collage does justice to his vicious broccoli and atomic cows.

Kirkus Reviews

PLB 0-688-15340-2 Wisniewski (Golem, 1996, etc.) satirizes the myriad rules that grown-ups impose on children, from eating vegetables and combing hair to refraining from nose-picking. On behalf of kids everywhere, the author sets out to sabotage the world's adults in their conspiracy to pass on proper hygiene, common courtesy, and good manners to children. Sleuthing through top-secret files, procured by disguising himself variously as an eggplant, a bedbug, a nail, or a giant nose, the author exposes the "sinister, truly macabre reasons for these seemingly innocent requests." Meat-eating saber-toothed asparagus and woolly cucumbers terrorized early humans back in the Age of Vegetables; humans eat them so as not to be eaten. Similarly, children drink milk to stop atomic cows (developed because "in the 1950s, our government was afraid that the Russians would develop the first atomic cow and flood the market with Communist milk") from exploding. This misguided attempt at subversive humor seems aimed at other adults, rather than the picture-book set, who won't understand the Cold War references nor laugh at the notions of Scottish shepherds herding mattresses on farms by serenading them with bonny ballads. Even the children in the age group that finds all references to body parts and bodily functions funny may be dumbfounded, though they will appreciate the painstakingly detailed cut-paper creations that depict, for example, a boy's face being sucked into a glass of milk. (Picture book. 6-11)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Wisniewski spoofs conspiracy theories in this "confidential volume," revealing why grown-ups tell children to eat their vegetables and drink milk. "The engagingly silly formula repeats throughout, and the text and the art are consistent in their over-the-top humor and sure execution," said <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">PW. Ages 7-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Aug.)