Homework

by Arthur Yorinks, Richard Egielski (Illustrator)

When Tony falls asleep without finishing his homework, his unruly school tools come to life to get the job done.  Pencil and Pen get the story started, along with Eraser, but when Fountain Pen joins in, all ink breaks loose!  A little creativity goes a long way, as Tony’s homework turns into a wacky tale about the Planet Splotch. Tony might not be able to hand in this particular assignment, but it deserves an A+ for originality. This imaginative story captures every kid’s wildest dream—homework that does itself!

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, School

32 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

Arthur Yorinks is a playwright, director, and author of more than thirty-five picture books for children, including the Caldecott Medal–winning Hey, Al, illustrated by Richard Egielski. His most recent picture book is Presto and Zesto in Limboland, illustrated by Maurice Sendak. Arthur Yorinks lives in Cambridge, New York.

Reviews

[Cosette · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny

[Kimberly · Rating 2 out of 5]

Feels oddly outdated. I was surprised to see it was written in 2009; I expected it to be much older.

[Robin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pens, a pencil, and an eraser ceaselessly argue over a boy's homework while he is fast asleep. Annoying characters, none with redeeming qualities, not even the boy.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tony doesn't do his homework so his pencil decides to do it for him. The eraser, ballpoint pen, and fountain pen get involved as well. This was a cute book. It was inspiring to think what would happen if my office supplies wrote a story for me what would they say? This would be a good book to read to a class to start a writing project about what would your homework/story be like if your pencil/ pen wrote it for you. I could see it conjuring up the imaginations of the young and old alike.

[Suzanne Kerfin]

Very cute story about a young boy who always puts off doing his homework. While he sleeps, a pencil, pen, and eraser work together to write a story. The boy wakes up, reads the story, and rewrites it using their ideas. They are all proud when the boy turns it in and gets a good grade on his homework.

Use for what makes good writing: ideas, a good lead, organization, dialogue

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one that doesn't quite work for me, but does for kids. My kids don't even have homework yet, but they loved it. I think the idea of talking writing implements was fun, and the idea of writing a story is still novel (no pun intended!) to them. Also, the pens and pencils have very loud personalities, which works for little kids.

[Kyle Greenberg · Rating 2 out of 5]

Homework is a non-realistic book to read to elementary students. This would not be a book to read-aloud to the class, but could be on the shelf for early elementary primary readers. They can relate to the idea of not wanting to do homework and the illustrations go along with it. Students also will see how to personify objects such as a pen and pencil.

[Sam Bloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

From the team that brought us "Hey, Al" - probably the weirdest of all Caldecott Medal books - comes a pretty funny, creative book about a kid whose school supplies do his homework for him. Illustrations are excellent as usual.

[Joenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picture book about pens, pencils, and erasers coming to life to write a story for Tony, who is fast asleep. They can't agree what to write a story about, and Pen keeps making splotches all over the paper. Cute for a grade school read aloud.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Words like nutcase, nincompoop and stinkeroo make this a boy-friendly picture book. Add to that an undermining humor and cartoon-style illustrations. I can see the same boys who like Captain Underpants and Wimpy Kid liking this book.

[Naomi · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well let's see...kids are taught name calling, not doing homework and plagiarism. Sounds like a winner! It is much cuter than the other book I read by this author, but still basically a fail in my eyes. The illustrations are what really helped it in my eyes.

[Tristan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am 8... maybe I am too old. My 3 yr old brother liked the illustrations. My 5 yr old sister liked the story.

[Tina B · Rating 2 out of 5]

"inspiration, writing, homework, anthropomorphized office supplies"

[Ruth Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I can't imagine a kid alive who wouldn't like the idea of "Homework that does itself". Nevertheless, I found the point of the story vague and not completely developed.

[Katey · Rating 3 out of 5]

While its not good to let your pencil do your homework its ok if they help a little.

[Alicia Evans · Rating 3 out of 5]

When a boy decides not to do his homework, his school supplies decide to do it for him. This book was very cute with each of the school supplies having distinct personalities. Nicely done.

[Shelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story about a little boy who never does his homework.

[Malachi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book because everyone argued and Tony did his homework.

-Malachi (age 7)

[Gretchen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not only good to start out the year thinking of wild ideas about homework, it is also great for personification since all the school supplies do his homework. It can also be good for the discussion that ideas for writing can come from anywhere.