The Pudding Problem (1)

Lyttle Lies #1

by Joe Berger

A boy must untangle the web of lies he’s created in order to prove his innocence in this humorous and cheeky illustrated middle grade novel that’s perfect for “fans of Timmy Failure and Big Nate” ( Kirkus Reviews ).

Sam Lyttle is prone to stretching the truth. Most of his lies are harmless; tall tales and the product of an overactive imagination. So when Sam is summoned to explain a strange discovery—a ping-pong ball in a jar of peanut butter—and denies involvement, no one believes him. Then more seemingly unrelated peculiarities emerge, and Sam categorically denies any knowledge of those, too.

In between these mysterious accusations, and with evidence mounting against him, Sam ruminates on the different sorts of lies he has told using examples from his past. Meanwhile, two pounds of potatoes wind up in the washing machine.

Sam comes to a decision: he decides it is time to come clean about this latest tangled web. He gathers his family to hear the truth. The whole truth. Or is it? Could it be that this final “truth” is, in fact, another lie?

Genres: Graphic Novels, Humor, Fiction, Middle Grade, Childrens, Realistic Fiction, Comedy

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2017

About the author

Joe Berger is the illustrator of Hubble Bubble Granny Trouble.

When Joe Berger was sixteen, his mum admonished him for “doing nothing but whizzing about entertaining himself”.

Now in his early forties, Joe continues to whizz about entertaining himself – but tries to include as many other people as he can in the process – as a children’s author, illustrator and cartoonist who also makes the occasional award-winning animated short film and title-sequence.

He is co-creator of the Berger & Wyse food cartoon in the Guardian magazine each saturday, and has illustrated numerous books, inside and out, for children and grown-ups.

When not working he loves to play modern family strategy boardgames.

Joe lives in Bristol with his wife, three daughters, two cats and a small dog, all of whom refuse to play boardgames with him. His mum still wishes he’d calm down and start being sensible.


from http://nosycrow.com/authors-etc/joe-b...

Reviews

[Marie the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quite funny book about lying and telling the truth and how lying can both be good and bad!

[Victoria Jane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is funny and clever and well thought out and both me and my nine year old loved it!

[Veronique Pauwels · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nu en dan eens luidop gelachen met deze hardcover van Joe Berger. In deze graphic novel leer je hoe belangrijk het is om eerlijk te zijn ... alhoewel je dan wel zo geen hilarisch verhaaltje krijgt!

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book really funny it was a mix of comic and book

[Adele Broadbent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sam Lyttle is a liar. He can't help it, it just happens. After all, life is complicated. So of course, anything and everything that happens at home that shouldn't - is automatically blamed on Sam.
School is complicated too - especially when it comes to Feeny, the class bully. The school legend says that if you cross Feeny 3 times, life as you know it will change forever.

Unfortunately, Sam crosses this line. 
1) A lie about an imaginary cheese burger
2) Theft of a foot long super salami
3) Saving a cat from Feeny's dog

Now he has to face the famous Feeny deadeye, AND face up to his family about the broken items at home.  Will he finally tell the truth? Will he survive Feeny?

A new series - part Black & White Graphic format and part novel, this story is funny! The truth is finally divulged to his family - or is it? Loved the conclusion.

[Cindy Mitchell *Kiss the Book* · Rating 2 out of 5]

Berger, Joe Lyttle Lies: The Pudding Problem, 228 pgs. CHAPTER BOOK Margaret K. McElderry Books, 2017 (Simon and Schuster). $13.99 Content: G.

Sam is known for being a liar. At school there is a bully, Feeny, who Sam continues to cross and Sam tries to lie his way out of situations that just continue to get bigger. Sam also lies at home, usually to protect his stray cat Pudding. As the lies stack up, Sam promises his grandpa that he will finally tell the truth in order to solve the Fenny problem. After Sam confesses everything and clears up the problems with his family and Fenny, he confesses that still part of the truth was a lie.

I enjoyed the humor and story line of this graphic novel type chapter book. I also didn’t mind Sam or the weird lies, until the end when he lies even when he is trying to tell the truth. I had a hard time with the fact that the moral of this story seemed to be that lying is okay as long as it’s for a good cause. Sad, because the illustrations and story were good until then.

EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL. Reviewer, C. Peterson.
https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/2017...

[Mehsi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Een boek wat erg leuk klonk, maar ik vond het gewoon jammer dat Lars niet eens de waarheid kon vertellen. Op een gegeven moment wist ik niet eens of hij nu wel of niet loog, ik ging er op een gegeven moment maar gewoon van uit dat hij loog, dat was makkelijker. Het einde? Ik was erg blij hoe De Knikker zijn karma kreeg, maar ik vond het dan toch jammer van Lars. Hij geeft ons toch de echte uitleg, maar ja, voor mij is het dan toch verpest. Wel een vraagje, doet die moeder dan nooit de was? Ik doe toch minstens 2 tot 3 keer een wasje (en dan is dat nog voor 2 personen). Wel vond ik het ook wel goed dat Lars wel wist dat liegen niet het beste idee was. Maar de waarheid was zo zwaar/groot, als een olifant.
Wel leuk vormgegeven, met leuke strips en illustraties. Maar ga ik deze serie verder lezen? Nee. Helaas niet.

[whatbooknext · Rating 4 out of 5]

Age - 7+

Sam Lyttle is a liar. He can't help it, it just happens. After all, life is complicated. So of course, anything and everything that happens at home that shouldn't - is automatically blamed on Sam.
School is complicated too - especially when it comes to Feeny, the class bully. The school legend says that if you cross Feeny 3 times, life as you know it will change forever.

Unfortunately, Sam crosses this line.
1) A lie about an imaginary cheese burger
2) Theft of a foot long super salami
3) Saving a cat from Feeny's dog

Now he has to face the famous Feeny deadeye, AND face up to his family about the broken items at home.  Will he finally tell the truth? Will he survive Feeny?

Part Black & White Graphic format and part novel, this story is funny! The truth is finally divulged to his family - or is it? Loved the conclusion.

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This graphic novel takes on Sam's situation of lying because telling the truth is so big and complicated it's like an elephant. Sometimes having trouble understanding the difference between lies and magic he starts an unexpected problem at school that snowballs because instead of telling the truth to fix it, he tries to lie his way through the situation. You really like the character though because he isn't being malicious, just scared. His grandpa, friend Charlie Beans, and his cat Pudding help him navigate the situation and try to make good things happen. This is definitely a book that kids will find funny and yet learn a little more about the problems of lying - when you feel like you just can't control it. And to be honest, is there anyone who hasn't found themselves in that situation?

[Amanda Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sam plays well the role of consummate liar who is full of himself. For some reason this is an extremely common trope in children's books recently and I wasn't initially excited about the overly wordy, excessive writing at the beginning. The story gets better as Sam explains who Pudding is, the cat, and how he managed to get Pudding in the first place.

I wonder that kids will notice the reference to cat memes, but I thought it was amusing. The storyline was unrealistic, but being told by an unreliable narrator perhaps it doesn't matter as much? I honestly got tired of trying to figure out what was supposed to be true or not.

Although this bills itself as a series, this book is a stand-alone.

Format note: This is a graphic novel hybrid, which works well here.

[Eve L-A Witherington · Rating 5 out of 5]

In this book we meet Sam, a serial liar who admires an actor called Wolfe Stone and is scared of school bully Feeny after he eats his school snack trying to impress his crush, saves a cat from Feeny's bully of a dog, butcher and with best mate Charlie's help he sets about stopping the bully in his tracks...

There's also the case at home of things being broken, missing and turning up in odd places to be solved...

Told through cartoon style and mini stories throughout From each day, my favourite story was he Pudding came to be a member of the family and just what Pudding did too, there was a funny story about staying with your family when ill too which made me laugh, prepare for a great laugh if you pick up this book!

[Madi Bell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Pudding Problem by Joe Berger is a realistic fiction book about a boy who cannot stop telling lies. When he has to face his school bully, he realizes with the help of his friend Charlie and his grandpa that telling the truth can be the best option. He eventually tells (most) of the truth to his family and understands the value of being honest. I loved this book and thought it was funny and engaging for students. I would use this book as an engaging read-aloud since it has many pictures to teach prediction strategies to my students because there is a pattern of lying and storytelling that the students could practice predicting.

[Amanda Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unreliable narrator and unreliable character, both full of himself and extravagant tells the tale of himself, his cat, and a bully at his school.

The lack of realism in plot is complicated by the fact that it is never quite clear what has happened in this story. The final plot twist ALMOST redeems the main character, but not quite. I dare say, younger audiences will not know or care about the realism factor.

Format: The graphic novel hybrid model works well here for conveying the story. Although the pictures are simple they do well at conveying emotion.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun entry in the category of heavily-illustrated confessional stories along the lines of Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Sam makes a good narrator even though he admits from the start he is a serial liar, telling the tale of getting himself into and out of trouble with a bully and his family with lies (and maybe just a bit of honesty).

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meet Sam Lyttle, a teller of tall tales and also known as a big liar to his family. Sam is quick to defend himself about the lies he tells by telling another which he thinks will solve the problems he faces. Sam saves a kitten from the school bully, and convinces his family to let him keep it, because it helps him tell the truth, but that's when the real problems start.

[Beth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I could not get into this book. At times, I found is a little confusing and slow. I like the point the book is trying to make about lying, and I think it would be good for kids to read it. I feel like the kids who like graphic novels will enjoy it, but it just was not for me.

[Cat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fun read for 4th to 7th graders! It had some light dramas, lying, bully, etc... but was very humorous! Id recommend the series!

I received a free Kindle copy from Edelweiss in exchange for a fair review.

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Skimmed this book just to check up on what my kids are reading and was disappointed. A book all about how a kid learns not to lie... only, he doesn't? He ends the book with another lie, only this one was "for a good reason."

Nope.

[Wina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Grade 3-7. So funny, and had some heart, too. Character was more likeable than Wimpy Kid books. This is also a little less realistic than those. Book 1 in a series Lyttle Lies. Even though main character is a liar, I like the way it's handled. I love his best friend, too.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story is about a boy who has a problem with the truth. There are various Britishisms that might be slightly confusing to American readers, but not so much so that they wouldn't really get the plot. The plot itself is mildly interesting, but certainly not gripping.

[Nichola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really funny. Lots of illustrations and comic strip type pages. Had me laughing as an adult and had been recommended to me by a child in my class. Can see this appealing to fans of Tom Gates, Wimpy Kid, Looshkin

[Tessa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute but simplistic children's book. It made me laugh several times but I don't think I'll remember it very long.

[Bridgette · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute for YA especially boys- using your imagination, being creative with bullies and protecting someone you love.

[Danyele Kirch]

this book was really funny because it made me laugh a lot. another reason this book is good is because it was well riten and the author clearly knows how to rite a good book

[Sabrina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ich will auch eine Katze die Pudding heißt :-D

[The Brothers · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dexter (9yo) read.

[Kine Albrigtsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Morsomt og spot on! Vil ha mer av dette!

[Martine Rørstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. Ikkje noko spesiell.

[Alice Mundy · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book to engage reluctant readers, especially boys. Comic style (look at style, structure etc.). Discussion about lying? Is it okay? When is it not?

[Olivia Vazquez]

It's a relatable book to read in my opinion,its about a boy named sam who lies a lot and his parents want him to stop.