by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello
illustrated by John Martz
40 pages / 2013

If you’ve ever seen the ol’ Abbott and Costello “Who’s on First” routine, then to “sell” this book to you all I need to share is that this is a faithful rendition. The comedians have taken the role of a bear and a rabbit, the colors are all bright and bold and the script is straight from the 60+ year old original.

If you’ve never heard the “Who’s on First” routine, then a word of explanation might be due. In this comedic bit Costello asks Abbott about his baseball team. But poor Costello gets a mite confused because the baseball team has some unusual names. The first baseman, for example, has the name “Who.” So when Costello wants to know “Who’s on first?” the unsatisfactory answer he gets from Abbott is “Exactly.” The gives you a taste of what this is all about. (I did my own homage to this routine when I had to create an illustration for an article about how only boys – not girls – have the Y chromosome).

I read this to my five year old and she got parts of it, but I would say this is probably best suited for the 7+ crowd. I was trying to think of any cautions I could add and the only think I could come up with is that there is a bit of yelling in the book so this might not be one to read to a rambunctious lad. It is a great fun book that is sure to get some giggles out of your little ones.

I’d recommend this as a great one to get from the library rather than own, since it is based on a joke, and jokes don’t stand up to repeated reads quite like good stories do. But it is a very good joke and wonderfully executed.