She certainly fooled me, and I read this book countless times in childhood trying to figure out just how she pulled it off. Sometimes we all need to lighten up.#29 Miss Nelson is Missing! by Harry Allard, illustrated by James Marshall (1977) Bean or Monty Python-lite, the Stupids may even produce the giggles. I blame its star.) It took me twenty-nine years, but I am no longer ignorant. "The Stupids" even became a feature film starring Tom Arnold in the 90s. How had I missed this? It's not only a book, but one of a series of four. The pages he shared generated hearty laughter. I did not know about this book until a speaker at the 2010 annual summer conference of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators cited it in his keynote. (One running gag by illustrator Marshall is the mislabelled art that hangs about the Stupids' house (e.g., a butterfly is identified as "COW" "LAKE STUPID" is a bucket of water). It's the kind of book that may make adults groan, yet young readers will delight in picking up the absurdities in the text and in the illustrations. It should come as no surprise that, when the power goes out, Mr. Buster mows the rug while Petunia uses a sprinkler to water the house plants. They gather in the living room to stare intently at the blank screen of an unplugged television. Stupid and their dim children, Petunia and Buster. There are no award stickers blocking the puffy cover images of Mr. I may as well start with something stupid. It's not a very good book, and I could spend my money well elsewhere. However, just on the quality of the book itself, I would feel no need to purchase a new copy. So, my stance remains: I believe in intellectual freedom and would fight to keep this book on the shelves where it is already stocked. Kids would probably find it funny, but I think mainly because the person reading would be saying a "naughty" word. It's just a series of mistakes the family makes, including thinking they're dead during a power outage. Kids are taught not to use the word, and even adults are reprimanded for saying something which could be so potentially harmful. "Stupid," historically, has worse connotations than just "not smart." It was used for those with severe mental impairments, and has since become half-recognized as a slur. The Stupids are way up there on the challenged list, and, in a modern sense, I can see the issue.
But it means not allowing small groups to determine what society as a whole can read. This doesn't mean always buying new copies-some of the books are, in themselves-not very good. I'm big on maintaining library collections in the face of those who would demand books be removed due to some perceived slight. So, I read this book because of its place on the ALA's most-frequently challenged books list.
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