Laugh Out Loud

Laugh Out Loud
James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein
Jeff Ebbeler, Illustrator
Jimmy Books/Hachette, 2017 275 pages
Grades 3-6 Humor

Young Jimmy wants to start his own company to write and publish books for kids with the company run by kids. His dream is inspired by his house-bound neighbor's plea to “Please give me another book, Jimmy!". He begins writing stories of his own that he thinks will be of interest to kids and his whole school and neighborhood goes nuts for the stories. The book plots that Jimmy conceives will be familiar to fans of James Patterson, as they are the storylines from his already published materials for young people. Jimmy has big dreams for the book company. It will be called "Laugh Out Loud Books” and will move product from one level to another by Ferris Wheel and workers will move around by hoverboards. The only problem is that Jimmy needs capital. All of the adults in his life (with the exception of the librarian:) and the banks he visits all laugh at him, inspiring the name for the company. His accountant/lawyer parents are too busy constantly working to encourage or support his dreams. What is a budding entrepreneur to do? Jimmy refuses to be discouraged. He and his friends work together to get a few of his stories published with the help of a friendly photocopy guy and eventually finding a financial backer. Laugh Out Loud books gets re-branded Jimmy Books and a publishing legend is born!

James Patterson is committed to turning kids into readers. To this end he writes with talented collaborators to create visual kid-friendly books that may not be the stuff of great fiction, but are devoured by readers. Laugh Out Loud is a fictionalized behind-the-scenes look of the creation of James Patterson's new imprint, if he was a kid. The journey is completely fantastical and made-up, yet will teach kids to follow their dreams and not give up, even if all of the adults in their lives think their dreams are unattainable. The story gets a bit absurd at times and is not particularly realistic, but young readers will not mind. Jimmy's parents go from workaholics who barely notice him to rock-band/cartoon artists who quit their jobs and eventually help with the book company. Believable? Not a chance, but kids with parents who are too caught up in their own lives will find hope that the same could happen within their own families. The cartoon-like illustrations are plentiful and add humor and interest to the story. Various characters from Patterson's other books for young people are characters in this tale and at the end of the story he lists which books they are all from, possibly leading readers to yet another book. Young Jimmy is clearly a reader and lover of books. Throughout the story he makes reference to other book titles by other authors. I would have liked to see a bibliography of these titles at the end of the volume to encourage readers to read some stories by other authors. Instead readers are offered an except from Patterson's latest novel Pottymouth and Stoopid. This book is perhaps a bit self serving, but will definitely be enjoyed by readers and at the end of the day teaches them the importance of books and following their dreams.