NO IFS, ANDS, OR BUTTS

Book Cover

An unseen narrator who has a story to tell is also tasked with keeping all the participants’ contributions “nice, polite, and appropriate for kids.” Five animals assemble, along with a talking taco, a tan-skinned pirate, and a pale-skinned child astronaut. But as the narrator explains the guidelines (“I want us all to agree you will follow my rules and stick to the story, no IFs, ANDs, or BUTs”), the characters point to their derrières, immediately mistaking the word but for butt. The narrator clarifies: “I wasn’t talking about THAT kind of butt, but actually, we can’t allow those either. Especially not bare butts.” Bear misunderstands: “What’s wrong with MY butt?” Further confusion arises as the pirate makes a booty pun; later, the curly-horned rams demand an exception for “head butts.” They get one, but instantly, human bottoms sprout ridiculously on every head. Fed up, the narrator eventually kicks everyone out. The cast heads for someplace with more freedom, but Woodward and Wahren still manage to produce a couple more hilarious visual and verbal jokes. Backdrops are minimal, and the narrator’s tale never actually gets told. It’s just homophones all the way down…and even those who can’t spell will chortle at the naughtiness.

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