This Book Is Out of Control!

Ben, Bella, and Bella's dog star in a new book -- which is no better behaved than the previous ones (We're in the Wrong Book!; This Book Just Ate My Dog, rev. 1/15). This time Ben comes over to Bella's house to show her his new remote-control fire truck. Unfortunately something has gone awry with the remote: each time Ben presses a button, "nothing seemed to happen." The book's gutter marks the doorway between inside and outdoors, and when Bella crosses over to the right-hand page and goes outside to check out the truck, she leaves her dog inside on the left-hand page. This enables readers to notice long before Bella and Ben do that the remote is actually controlling Bella's dog instead of the fire truck. Bella's dog reacts to SPIN, SIREN, and VOICE ("HELP! This book is out of control!" says the dog), which finally draws Bella and Ben back inside. They try to correct the situation, but that only lands all three of them on the ceiling, no longer able to reach the remote at all. At this point, the reader needs to help. After some nonsensical (and somewhat confusing) trial and error, everything sorts out, Bella's dog takes control of the remote, and the fire truck responds appropriately. As in the previous titles, the book's bright art, combined with the interactive text and design, invites readers to get involved physically with the story. The final page encourages readers to press the remote's REPEAT button (the only button that hasn't yet been pushed) and read the book again. julie roach

Something goes awry with the remote to Ben's new fire truck: it's actually controlling Bella's dog instead. Trying to correct the situation only lands all three of them on the ceiling. As in We're in the Wrong Book! and This Book Just Ate My Dog!, this book's bright art, combined with the interactive text and design, invites readers to get involved physically with the story.