ALA Booklist (Mon Oct 07 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Readers need but glance at the endpapers, crammed with green-faced, bulgy-cheeked critters, to know what to expect here: vomit, and lots of it. Though fictional, Carlson's book acts as a practical what-to-expect guide for losing your lunch. A straight-talking young lass gets us off to a good start: a two-page spread of spewing animals. Everyone, you see, engages in the ol' Technicolor yawn. For a dog, explains the girl, hurling is no biggie, "but barfing is scary to a kid!" She recounts how an "icky flu bug" (from a school lunch, natch) makes her queasy and how she tries to resist horking, but, ultimately, upchuck will not be denied. "When you barf at school," she adds, "be prepared, because everyone will go nuts!" Yes, schooltime cookie tossings are traumatic one likes to see the janitor and his "special barf cleanup machine" t Carlson's message is that it's normal, temporary, and you'll even be welcomed back. Giddily illustrated with glorious cartoon grossness, this is a great normalizing device for all those reluctant regurgitators out there.

Horn Book (Mon Oct 07 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

A girl explains the ways that people and animals experience vomiting ("Dogs act normal after they barf...But barfing is scary for a kid!") and the realities of upchucking at school ("everyone will go nuts!"). This is Everyone Poops for older kids and with Carlson's trademark unpretentious illustrations and hand-holding narration. Regarding her depiction of the book's subject: it doesn't look like confetti.

School Library Journal (Mon Oct 07 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

K-Gr 3 A straight-talking young girl candidly discusses the fear and embarrassment of throwing up at school. When the flu bug strikes, she starts "to feel queasy," and all efforts to resist being sick prove futile. The aftermath include a janitor cleaning up the classroom and a respite in the nurse's office. Following a few days of rest and recuperation at home, the child returns to school, and the text reads, "No one will be mad at you for barfing.You have a great day, even thoughyou have to retake the math test you barfed on." Carlson's cartoon illustrations have just the right dose of gross detail. Endpapers reiterate the message that "Everyone barfs once in a while" and showcase dozens of green-faced animals, people, and even a snowman. Getting sick is never fun, but this reassuring and humorous book makes the experience much more tolerable. Linda Ludke, London Public Library, Ontario, Canada