The Last Laugh

by José Aruego, Ariane Dewey

Meet a not-so-nice snake, a jittery gopher, and a duck who doesn’t know what he’s in for. But wait: The duck’s not the only one who’s about to be surprised!

This silly book is told with only three words but an abundance of visual expression and panache. It’s a hilarious take on the adage "What goes around comes around," and a refreshing, kid-friendly story of brains over brawn.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published March 16, 2006

About the author

José Aruego was a Filipino children's author, illustrator, and cartoonist known for his lively animal characters and collaborations with Ariane Dewey. Trained originally as a lawyer in the Philippines, he later studied design in New York and became a successful cartoonist for magazines including The New Yorker. He created more than eighty children's books, including Whose Mouse Are You?, Leo the Late Bloomer, and Gregory the Terrible Eater, while also visiting schools to encourage children's creativity and drawing.

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

A snake who delights in sneaking up on others, and scaring them with a loud "HISS!" learns an unexpected lesson. This was pretty cute, and I did, indeed, laugh.

[Jon Nakapalau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great first book on bullying!

[Sweet on Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great choice for younger kids. The story is simple, the snake is slithering around sneaking up on friends and hissing at them, scaring the heck out of them. This delights the snake until he sneaks up on a duck and accidentally eats it! Then, the only noise the snake can make is a quack. All the other snakes think this is hilarous, which depresses the snake. Then the duck pops out of the snake and flies away with all his friends. The snake's final insult is when the duck comes back unseen, sneaks behind the snake and scares any stray hisses right out of him. This poor snake really gets his comeuppance.

Because of its almost total lack of words, this book really allows the reader to be in the driver's seat. You can manipulate the story as you see fit, to work in whatever your situation happens to be. The story can be beneficial in so many ways. It can just be used as the entertaining story that it is. It can also be used to warn a bully in the making, giving a young prankster concrete evidence that jokes can hurt. It also can be used to empower a young child to understand what a bully is and how to stand up for him/herself. Finally, it would make a great read-aloud to a group, allowing much discussion about community and kindness.

[Michelle Rosales · Rating 4 out of 5]

A mean snake, no words just pictures and yet it is still easy to figure out what the story line is. The pictures allow the reader to figure the meaning of the story by looking at the facial expressions of the characters. The snake’s face is drawn to look very mean and mischievous, so it is clear to the reader that he is a bully. After being so tricky and scaring a few animals, he meets a duck. That’s when it all changes. The snake’s hiss becomes a quack and then he finally sees what it is like to be laughed at.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this little gem of a book. It was a mostly wordless book, but a great story that kids will definitely get a laugh out of. The illustrations are simply but bright and colorful. I could use this in a storytime easily. It also leads into a great conversation starter about being nice to others and not being a bully as the author states in the end.

[Christine Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wordless tale in which a clever duck outwits a bullying snake.
www.hcpl.net

Subjects

Snakes -- Juvenile fiction.

Ducks -- Juvenile fiction

Intimidation -- Juvenile fiction.

Stories without words

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were hardly no words in the book. I loved it. This is another good example of getting kids to read through the pictures. IT is about bullying, so if I was ever having trouble with bullying in my classroom I would read this book. Bullies never get the last laugh.

[Randie D. Camp, M.S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aruego and Dewey utilize simple illustrations, a handful of bright colors, and almost no words to share an important message about bullying: Bullies do not get the last laugh. Do not bully or continually scare your friends because it will get you no where fast.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very little words in this book, but a very effective approach at antibullying. The snake is sneaking up on everyone and scaring them, but he doesn't get the last laugh. A good book for students to have fun with while still getting a very valuable message across.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

We giggled while reading this one. I liked the wordless picture book; we haven't gotten these a ton but I will more in the future. This is a cute story with a good message

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, a kid-sized picture book about karma!

Mostly this story is told in pictures. Here I'll just clarify that, to my thinking, this fable about karma book deserves FIVE STARS.

It's never too early to tell your kids that karma is a spiritual law here on Earth, just as gravity is a physical law.

Thank you, author José Aruego and artist Ariane Dewey.

[Delaney States · Rating 4 out of 5]

I chose this book for younger students who don’t know how to read. The story line is very easy to follow and teaches a good lesson. I highly recommend this book for pre readers to introduce them to following a story before they learn to read words.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love a good visual gag. A snake is not very nice. He goes around hissing and scaring other animals. Until a duck flies in his mouth and all he can do is quack!

[K · Rating 1 out of 5]

how can you draw a duck but not a snake??? and the duck became the bully in the end too???? You did NOT serve with that "this is dedicated to bullies everywhere" BS at the end.

[Anjali Derhgawen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book was okay because I do not think that it ended with the right message. It is about a dragon that bullies everyone because he thinks that it is funny and finally it backfires on him when he accidentally swallows a duck and starts quacking. At the end, the duck bullies him back by scaring him. This book is to discourage bullies from bullying, but I think that it encourages the people that are bullied to bully back.

[Grant Broderick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wordless picture book would be great for 3rd grade and under. The story is very basic and easy to interpret without words. The essential theme this book will teach children is what goes around comes around. After bullying everyone the snake is the one who gets embarrassed in the end. I would not recommend this for any children over 4th grade simply because the story is so simple.

[Sandra Vicars · Rating 3 out of 5]

A cute story about a snake who hissed to startle the wrong duck. Children will be amused by this comical look at bullies.

[Jarron Ogles · Rating 3 out of 5]

The last laugh , a kinda creepy book with a great ending. The book gives out a good message about bullying at the end. The illustration of the story is what makes the story.

[Destiny · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a great book that has to do with its bullying. It's a wordless book. The animals in this book make it stand out!

[Cassie Davis]

I actually did not like this book. I knew it was supposed to talk about bullying, but I really did not see a good way to use this in a classroom.