This collection of poems about inventions you never imagined
is reminiscent of Shel Silverstein’s quirky, slightly grisly children’s poetry.
Children will love the fabulously intricate color illustrations, which
perfectly complement and bring to life Perry’s eccentric ideas. For example, “The
Sure-Footed Shoe Finder,” a contraption that locates your lost shoe by matching
the scent of its other pair, is illustrated with a number of complicated
looking machines. One is a hodgepodge of wheels, half a bicycle handlebar, and some
kind of metal device that seems to transfer the smell of the shoe, via a series
of tubes and what looks like a plunger, to a rat trapped in a cage, who then
leads the chase for the forgotten shoe. Meanwhile, the margins of the pages are
filled with assorted lost shoes, including a high heel that looks suspiciously
like a rat. In addition to fabulously fantastical drawings, there are several
inventions in the mix that are simply too good to pass up, such as the
Crumbunny. The Crumbunny a pink monster/ bunny hybrid with a vacuum for a nose,
solves that age-old problem: What to do about those nasty little crumbs left
behind after you’ve snacked in bed? “The snack-time pet knows what to do! He
cleans the crumbs beneath the sheet, and when he’s full, sleeps at your feet.” 
