"The Werewolf Club #2: The Lunchroom of Doom," is a fun entry in this young adult series by Daniel Pinkwater. The book is illustrated by Jill Pinkwater. The story is narrated by Norman Gnormal, a member of the Watson Elementary School Werewolf Club -- a sort of peer support group for kids who are werewolves.

This installment brings some interesting new elements into the series -- most notably, Honest Tom's Tibetan-American Lunchroom, were the 'wolves eat lunch. The kids face a naysayer in the form of a narrow-minded Board of Ed psychiatrist who claims that werewolves don't exist. They also discover a fiendish extraterrestrial plot. Good fun, with a nice message of empowerment for kids who are different.

Poor Billy Furball, he's been thrown out of the school lunchroom for having a food fight with himself. It was so bad, they had to bring in special cleaning equipment. And on top of that, because of his behavior, Billy has to see the school psychiatrist, who has informed him that there is no such thing as werewolves...it's just a game that got out of hand. Now, to support and cheer up their fellow werewolf, the rest of the club has decided not to eat in the lunchroom either. First, they tried to eat outside, but it rained. Next they tried to each in their club sponsor's car, but it was too full of shedded werewolf hair. So, finally they went down the block to eat at Honest Tom's Tibetan-American Lunchroom. The food wasn't bad and they got to meet Captain Sterling of the North American Space Squad. He has been abducted by aliens more than 400 times. Now as the club lunches each day at Honest Tom's, strange things begin to happen...This is the second book in Daniel Pinkwater's Werewolf series, and just like the first, it is full of wacky characters and laugh out loud scenes. The easy to read short chapters and hip, kid-speak language will keep your youngsters hooked and turning pages to the very end. This is a silly, funny, very absurd story that is just perfect for 7-10 year olds.

About a really funny dog from outer space who can talk to people and other animals. This dog is really smart and it prefers to eat food that humans would eat, especially roast duck with all the fixings. It made me laugh a lot.

My favorite part was when the girl (Kelly) found out that Mush was a dog from space. Noa

a cute tale of a wolf pack as they play and come to observe humans on christmas

Daniel tells a simple story; Jills illustrates it with silly wolf antics, straight from real life. This family of wolves I love. The night was fine, and they went out to spy on the humans. The end was . . . perfect. Read it and see.

The story of this book: Mr. and Mrs. Submarine start by bringing their cat in out of the rain, and offering it a corn muffin. Not strange at all. Then they invite the dog in. Not everyone allows a dog in the house, but many people do. Still, this is not strange.

But later, as the friends include a group of chickens, a group of crows, a coyote, and Beethoven, the book gets funnier and funnier.

Young children realize that cows, chickens, and Beethoven don't belong in the house, and realize just how strange and genuinely funny Mr. and Mrs. Submarine are. Kids just LOVE this book!

There is no plot as such. The guests just tend toward the more and more bizarre, and the comments and humor of the book just get more and more chuckly.

The illustrations in the book are colorful and warm, reminding me of bright watercolors.

If you like Pinkwater books, this is a good one. The book surely does NOT "go anywhere," as one reviewer complained. Surely, that is true. This book is funny without going anywhere.

Give it a try.

ken32

Sure, Pinkwater's humor isn't for everyone and the kids will miss some of it. Still, I found the book very entertaining which is something I can't say for most books I read to the children.

This book is very funny, and totally bizarre. Daniel Pinkwater is one of the greatest, and most underappreciated, authors writing today. The illustrations are beautiful, and add to the overall tone of whimsy and wit.

When William went to the dentist for a filling, he had no idea that it would be able to pick up radio broadcasts!! Wow! A radio tooth! You can imagine the fun tricks William could play on his family, friends and teacher with a radio in his tooth (sorry, you’ll have to read the book to find out what those tricks ARE!)

However, one day, when William tries to use a chain link fence as an antenna, he gets a shock which “changes the channel” on his radio tooth, and he discovers that he can tune in radio transmissions from space!! Soon, he’s abducted by large men in bad suits and terrible ties who plan to invade earth!! What’s a boy to do??

Mr. Pinkwater has been a very popular children’s author with many of his books from the 1970’s still in print today. One of my childhood favorites was “The Big Orange Splot”. While other authors from that time period have had their books slowly fade away, Mr. Pinkwater’s are still around and attracting new readers. Perhaps one of the main reasons is because his books are genuinely funny and witty. There’s plenty of silly humor for the young, beginning reader, and also plenty of subtle plays on words that will amuse the more advanced reader (or the parent reading with their child!!).

Generally I love Mr. Pinkwater’s stories, but “Fat Men from Space” isn’t one of his best. It starts off fine and laugh-out-loud funny, but about halfway through the book the plot goes into high gear and the reader starts to feel a bit gypped: events that you would assume would take a few days to happen are over and done with in about 3 or 4 paragraphs. Descriptions loose their tangy zingers of absurdity and it feels like Mr. Pinkwater was in a rush to finish the book before a deadline or something. The ending is also a bit weak, making the book feel like it was left open-ended for a sequel that never came.

If you’re a diehard Pinkwater fan, then read the book by all means!! If you have a beginning-to-intermediate reader who is looking for an easy-to-read book that will keep ‘em laughing, this is a good choice. The language is easy to read and the pace is fast enough that even a beginning reader can probably finish it in one or two sittings. This will encourage them to read more and show that reading doesn’t have to be dry and booooring.

However, for the more intermediate to advanced reader, “Fat Men…” may be disappointing *because* of it’s fast pace. For them, I would recommend “Lizard Music” by Mr. Pinkwater.

Not bad, still a lot of fun, but I would have expected just a bit more from Mr. P.

I've been a reader of Daniel Pinkwater's books since grade school, and even enjoy reading them today. Along with 'The Magic Moscow', this particular tale is one of the most memorable for me. Like just about all of the author's kiddie tomes, 'Fat Men From Space' has no shortage of strange & bizarre yet lighthearted and gently humorous characters & situations.

What makes this particular story interesting is that there's no actual hero or heroes who save the day in the end. The main character, a boy whose new tooth filling picks up the aliens' radio transmissions, is merely a helpless witness to all of the unfortunate (yet strangely silly) goings-on. Fortunately, outside events play a part in the rotund ETs prematurely concluding their invasion, and the story ends on an upbeat & slightly sappy note.

Unfortunately, some folks might nowadays see this book's titular antagonists as being somewhat un-PC. You know, that whole 'FAT Men..." thing and such. Well, all I can say about it is this: if you've ever seen a picture of the author, you might be a little less squeamish about his use of the word "fat", 'cause he's a fairly hefty guy himself. The way I see it: if he can deal with it, so can the reader.

One more thing: 'Fat Men From Space' is followed up by 'Slaves of Spiegel', which I also recommend you take a look at. It too has plenty of the Pinkwater trademarks of silly situations and lighthearted & whimsical humor.

'Late

This book is great. I loved it. It's about a boy who gets a radio in his teeth and he recives radio tranmisions from space!!!! Read this book to find out what happends to the boy. I recomend this book to anyone who likes children books.

While there is a valid point that overwieght children are often made fun of and people should be more tolerant, the author spends far too much time reminding us of his not-so-hidden agenda. As a story, though, this book doesn't really deliver the goods.

This book is kind of confusing in the start but as you to read it makes more sence. This book is about two kids that have to go to fat camp, because their mom and dad said that you would be miserable if you stayed fat. You will have to read the rest to find out what happens to the kids!

Although some complain that the message is too strong, I think that given the fact that the self esteem of a fat child is constantly abused from every imaginable angle including simple cartoons, they need some heavy duty fire power to combat the other strong messages that tell them to hate themselves. I only wish that the strong message of this book was mirrored by other books. Something wimpy that beat around the bush wouldn't be at all effective, and you can be certain that the author does not beat around the bush! I also like that it does not insult the intelligence of children, which we all too often underestimate. The kids got the jokes, enjoyed the illustrations, and received a defined boost in their self esteem.
I hope that those with fat children, or even those with thin children who are fearful of fat, will purchase this incredible book and teach their children self respect instead of self hatred. I highly recommend it!

Thorough summary of Pinkwater's writings, along with biographical information.The field of humor philosophy is also covered.

Having been a fan of the original 'Magic Moscow' tome as a kid, I eventually started picking up a few of Daniel Pinkwater's other efforts as well. One of my faves was the follow-up Magic Moscow story, 'Attila the Pun'. I loved the playful use of words, the weird culinary combinations, and the wonderful sense of fun that this new story shared with its predecessor. Throw in a goofy supernatural element- a wisecracking, really-bad-joke-reciting Hun ghost summoned from the great beyond- and you've got... well, something pretty weird and wonderful.

Even though this particular book is twenty years old, I still believe it'll make for good reading for today's elementary school-age child. Fair warning, though: this book has a few things that'd be considered un-PC nowadays, including smoking (the 'Hungarian Boy Scout Lunch' chapter). It also features a bit of magical conjurings & sorcery, which has gotten the more contemporary 'Harry Potter' books emboiled in controversy with some folks. But, aside from these things, I think the book will be quite an enjoyable read for the kiddies-and for adults who like a nice, light, whimsical adventure every now and then.

'Late!

The moose and the proprieter become great friends and the moose makes the townspeople admit how wonderful the food is. Children will ask for a moose to move in after reading this. The author read it on Chinwag Theatre- I want the tape!

Just to make it clear to kids and parents: this is NOT one of Pinkwater's whimsical books for kids. My eleven-year-old son recently ordered it from Amazon, having lived on a diet of Pinkwater for the last couple of months. Thrilled to receive it after much anticipation, he started to read. A few minutes later he brought it to his Mom, pointing out the words "f*ck" and "bastard" in the first few pages. He was *very* disappointed, not so much because of the words, but because it caught him by surprise; he felt let down. "It's **Pinkwater!** What happened?!"

I'm buying it back from him so he can spend his money elsewhere. (If I like it I'll post another review saying what Dad thinks of the book.)

I'm a big fan of originality, and this book didn't disappoint. while it seemed to make a lot out of a little, seemed a bit 'padded' (HA) at times, and contained perhaps the worst sci-fi short story I've ever read (One word: wereakeets), I nonetheless chuckled all the way through. Hardly great literature, but it achieved its intended effect. It made me laugh.

Daniel Pinkwater is best known for his childrens' and young adults' books. Really odd and off-beat stuff, best enjoyed by kids destined not to be consumer drones and conformists.

I once talked with an editor who knew Mr. Pinkwater. I asked him what he was up to. "He's said he's doing a book for adults," replied the fellow, "Which could be really scary, because it could have sex in it. Can you imagine Pinkwater writing about sex?" Hmmmm . . .

_The Afterlife Diet_ is indeed his first novel for grown-ups (although he's written for adults before, in his collections of fine essays and reminscences). It could be called a "fat lib" book. Most of its characters are great big folks. Some are alive, some are dead. We see them dealing with the afterlife (it's segregated; The Other Side for hefty folks appears to be an indifferently run Borscht Belt resort), with dating, and careers. It does have sex, although nothing explicit, although we learn enough to know that it takes place in a tub of hot water infused with hot-dog spices.

There are a lot of cool characters and situations here here, such as a psychiatrist who conducts therapy sessions in a deli, and a crazed fat-doctor. A lot of the pain expressed must come from personal experience. But a good chunk of the book reads as though it were filler. There are bits about a gummy alien, and an outline for a sprawling SF epic set in the vast parking lot of a interstellar retail complex. Much of this is funny, but it doesn't quite fit in.

I ultimately enjoyed this one, and hope The Captain writes another book for grownups.