This is the third fun and fantastical early chapter book about a girl living in Holland and a piece of popcorn that comes to life. The girl has two dads, but that’s happily incidental to the tale. In this volume, Ellis, her dads Gus and Steve, and her friend Dante are all visiting the U.S. The dads think they’re going to work on marketing ideas for a farmer there, but Ellis and Dante are secretly trying to reunite Bob with other living corn kernels created by the same U.S. company whose illegal formula created him.
The farmer their dads are working for is the one who grew Bob and the others, and who also doesn’t like the company that gave him the special kernels (but who adores Bob). Irascible Bob is as hard to manage as ever, though, leading to the story’s inevitable hijinks and a showdown with the company executive who holds the other kernels. Not only that, but the other living kernels they find only speak English, not Dutch. Ellis speaks only Dutch and Bob claims to speak English (but seems to be exaggerating his competence). It’s up to Dante, who speaks both, to act as translator and to convince the kernels to escape the executive, who has nefarious plans for them.
This is best read after the first two books, Popcorn Bob, and Popcorn Bob 2: The Popcorn Spy, but is a fun and worthwhile addition to the series. Young readers may be initially confused that the authors refer to Ellis’ dads by their first names instead of parental titles, but should catch on. As I said about the first two volumes, there’s a sort of inspired silliness here that I like, and a narrative pace that keeps the action moving. Van der Linden’s pencil drawings, which sometimes carry bits of dialog, also make this a great transition book for children not quite ready for all-text middle grade books (or who simply enjoy the hybrid text/graphic format). It would also make a fun read-aloud for slightly younger children.
There’s a light theme about finding family here, too, although the overall intent seems more to entertain than to convey moral lessons. That’s fine; pure entertainment has value, too—and the complete non-issue of the two dads has value of its own. It’s actually rather refreshing to read an LGBTQ-inclusive kids’ book that isn’t weighty with Deep Messages. Sometimes we just want to be amused, and this series delivers that. Make some popcorn and have a read.
Ellis, her dads, Farmer Bill, and the company executive are White; Dante has darker skin. Translated from the Dutch by Nancy Forest-Flier.
