The book review that isn't a review.

I'm not big on book reviews.  It feels too much like homework and I spend enough time trying to get my kids to do their homework to have any desire to do it too.  Wreck The Halls is by Jen Yates.  It doesn't have a plot so there isn't anything to review except to say it's funny. It's a great way to offset all the super sweet Christmas stories you'll hear during the holidays about kids that have no money and get presents anyway. 

I often read the blog, http://cakewrecks.squarespace.com/, with my kids and they all think it's pretty funny. I have to preview it to make sure there aren't themes I don't want to explain to my young children.  (People should not put balloons or rockets on cakes.  Also, people don't look appetizing with or without clothes. Don't turn them into cakes.  Ew.) The first cake wrecks book was PG-13 and I didn't let my kids read all of it. I thought about waiting until my kids went to bed before I previewed Wreck The Halls but I couldn't wait. 

I tried to hold it in, but I couldn't help it.  I laughed while my seven year-old was in the room.

I gave him a little taste of the book and sent him on his way.

Then came my twelve year-old. His voice is changing so every word he says starts on one octave and ends in another.  There can be three or four octaves in between.  It's always fun to hear what comes out of his mouth. He can do things with his voice I didn't know were humanly possible.

 I was a little tired of the interruptions by the time my daughter came around. 

She disappeared quickly.

Unfortunately, those tactics only work for my daughter.  The boys already knew what I had and they hung around like vultures, waiting for a chance to pounce. (And they like fish.)

I was pleased to see that there wasn't anything in it I didn't want my kids to see so I let them have it.

My twelve year-old nabbed the book first.  He was just about to sit down with it when...

The seven year-old flew out of nowhere, snatched the book from his brother's hands and disappeared into the wastelands (also known as his bedroom.) 

I was laughing too hard to reprimand my seven year-old. It was a pretty impressive move and how can you argue with the albino sprinkle bush of joy? The next day I braved the wastelands to find the book.  It was nestled next to Puppy and Bad Kitty (and dirty clothes, and books, and blankets, and toys, and trash). I rescued the book and put it on the book shelf for everyone to enjoy.