After winning a car, Joe Giraffe, who likes to "stretch my neck and see the world," takes cautious Sparky Turtle for a wild ride through town. The story features lots of jokes and snappy dialogue, but the chaotic plot may be too much for early readers to follow. Humorous watercolor and colored-pencil illustrations give personality to the odd-couple pals.

Gr 2-5 Less scatological than Dav Pilkey's "Captain Underpants" (Scholastic) but just as wacky, this fourth installment about Wilbur and Orville Riot is chock-full of goofy, good-natured fun. The brothers are distressed upon hearing they'll be spending the first few days of their summer vacation with their cousin Amelia. All fears are put to rest, however, when they discover that she shares their wild sense of humor. When they're not cracking corny jokes, the youngsters devise boredom-busting games such as "Pufferbelly Pointer Punt," "Holey Cheese-n-Peas," and "Curse of the Mummy" (instructions, along with Riot Brother Rules and parody songs, are appended). Divided into three mini-books with several short chapters that have large type and a generous number of zany cartoon drawings, this offering should be easy for newly independent readers to digest, while the nonstop humor will grab older children. Kids are sure to enjoy the warm family dynamics between the imaginative and exuberant brothersand their like-minded cousinand the breakneck pace of this uproariously funny book. Madigan McGillicuddy, Los Angeles Public Library