Book: 7 Ate 9: The Untold Story Author: Tara Lazar Illustrator: Ross MacDonald Publisher: Disney-Hyperion Date: May 16, 2017 Genre: children's picture book; humour Pages: 32 Price: $18.99 My rating: Entertaining story filled with puns and humour
7 Ate 9: The Untold Story is a very entertaining story. And how can it not be, having been written by Tara Lazar?
Private I is asked by the number 6 to help him. He has heard that 7 Ate 9, and he is scared 7 would soon be after him. Private I pointed out that 7 is always after him – as in 5, 6, 7. That fact doesn’t console 6 and he fears his days are numbered as both 7 and 9 seem to be missing!
Private I goes to the café for a slice of pi. (No, I didn’t mean to type pie.) The waitress, whose name is B, has the scoop. She’d heard that 7 ate 9, and she drops a scoop of ice-cream onto Private I’s pie that’s shaped like the number π – which is the mathematical pi.
As you can easily figure out from what little I have said – not wanting to give away the whole story – there are many puns and word plays in this funny picture book 7 Ate 9: The Untold Story. The bold, creative illustrations by Ross MacDonald (a Canadian now living in the US) are perfectly suited to the story and visually add to the puns. The reader must pay attention to the illustrations to not miss the added humour.
In a surprising and funny conclusion, Private I cleverly solves the mystery of missing 9 and 7, reminding the adult reader a little of Sherlock Holmes.
