Hardcover

ISBN: 9781442406704
Grade level: PreS-3

In Catalanotto's surreal suburbia, many of the residents are costumed superheroes—there's Garbage Man and the duo of Mailman and Paperboy to name a few. But their grownup powers are useless in the face of the title characters' Kryptonite-like relentlessness. Question Boy sends people fleeing with his endless interrogations, while Little Miss Know-It-All evokes a similar response with her nonstop spewing of knowledge, accurate or not. When these two go toe to toe in a city park it's more than a comic smackdown. Catalanotto (Ivan the Terrier) slyly uses the duel to comment on the disintegration of civil discourse, the importance of connecting to others as individuals, and the possibilities for common ground through simply listening. A story that starts out as a wonderfully weird comedy ends up a surprisingly nuanced lesson in the art of being human. Ages 4–8. --Publishers Weekly, November 21, 2011, *STAR

A KIRKUS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR 2012