Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem

A blue whale is longer than thirty dogs lined up nose to tail. Its tongue weighs as much as four hundred cats. Blue whales make terrible pets....Just ask Billy Twitters.

“Readers know what kind of place they are in when the endpapers include ads for giant-squid repellent and shrimp-of-the-month club and the author and illustrator snark at each other in the dedication. Billy Twitters's room looks much as one might expect: unmade bed, piles of dirty and clean clothes, video games, books, backpack and stuffed toys everywhere. Billy's mom tells him plainly that he's to clean up his room and finish his dinner or "we're buying you a blue whale." He doesn't, and they do. While Rex never reveals the faces of the adults, he does provide nicely detailed diagrams of the size and habits of the blue whale (from FedUp, "Delivering Punishment Worldwide"). Billy has to take his whale everywhere, even though the whale kind of wrecks the classroom and moves Alexis to un-invite Billy and the whale to her pool party. However, the prospect of feeding his whale inspires Billy to a damp and fishy but very boylike solution to the problem of both room-cleaning and whale-sitting. Definitely funny and slyly subversive.-- Kirkus”

"A headlong plunge into surrealism ensues when Billy Twitters' parents punish him by giving him a blue whale. The cleverness is in the idea's literal-mindedness."--The New York Times Book Review
"Definitely funny and slyly subversive."--Kirkus Reviews
"Rex's goofy illustrations blend the realistic with the fantastic...Young readers will likely enjoy the ridiculous premise, and the many whale facts worked seamlessly into the tale."--School Library Journal
"Tons of fun."--Publishers Weekly

Mac Barnett is a writer living in Los Angeles, CA. He's also the Executive Director of 826LA, a nonprofit writing and tutoring center, and founder of the Echo Park Time Travel Mart, a convenience store for time travelers (seriously). Billy Twitters and His Blue Whale Problem is his first picture book.

Adam Rex is the New York Times bestselling author and illustrator of Frankenstein Makes A Sandwich. His other books include Pssst!, The True Meaning of Smekday, The Dirty Cowboy (written by Amy Timberlake) and the Lucy Rose series (written by Katy Kelly). He lives in Philadelphia.

A blue whale is longer than thirty dogs lined up nose to tail. Its tongue weighs as much as four hundred cats. Blue whales make terrible pets....Just ask Billy Twitters.

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