Meaniehead

“There’s nothing sillier than fighting about what belongs to whom, but no kids and even fewer adults know that,” observes Kaplan (Cousin Irv from Mars) sagely in this wonderful book about badly behaved siblings. Try telling that to Henry and Eve, whose scowling, luridly colored, rivalry-induced physiognomy brings to mind that guy from The Scream. Henry gets a jackhammer, Eve gets a bulldozer, and pretty soon nothing is safe—not their favorite toy store, the San Diego Zoo, the Grand Canyon, or planet Earth: “They chased each other onto a plane that went to Hawaii. Shortly thereafter, Henry and Eve caused every volcano there to explode. Which in turn caused the world to explode. So now the world was gone.” All-consuming rage has seldom been so much fun; to experience Kaplan’s pokerfaced narration and mordant, minimalist cartooning working in tandem is to understand what great comic timing is all about. Kids, you’ve been schooled. Extra points for a sibling reconciliation that manages to be farfetched, emotionally true, and the farthest thing from sappy. Ages 4–8. Agent: Erin Malone, William Morris Endeavor. (June)