• Age: 8 to 12
• Grade: 3 to 7
• Reading age: 8 to 12

Whether it's waking up to find toads in their shoes, becoming trapped on the roof, or searching for cheese when their cow makes only lemonade, the Pepin family always seem to get into the most bizarre scrapes. Lucky for them, they have an author with large psychic antennae and great problem-solving readers who can join the Pepins on their hilarious adventures. And they need all the help they can get!

Polly Horvath is one of the most highly acclaimed authors writing today. Her books include The Canning Season (winner of the National Book Award and the CLA Young Adult Book Award), Everything on a Waffle (a Newbery Honor Book, an ALA Notable Book and winner of the Mr. Christie's Book Award and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize), The Trolls (a National Book Award finalist), My One Hundred Adventures (a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year, a Booklist Editors' Choice, a Kirkus Reviews Best Children's Book of the Year and winner of a NAPPA Gold Award and the Sheila A. Egoff Children's Literature Prize), and Northward to the Moon (an Oprah's Book Club Kids' Reading List selection and winner of a Parents' Choice Gold Award). Her most recent book is Mr. and Mrs. Bunny — Detectives Extraordinaire!

Polly Horvath's profile page

Marylin Hafner was the illustrator of many books for children. She died in 2008.

Marylin Hafner's profile page

• Long-listed, Horn Book Magazine Fanfare List
• Long-listed, IRA-CBC Children's Choices
• Winner, Parents' Choice Award Winner
• Long-listed, Kentucky Blue Grass Award Master List

“Following her National Book Award-winning dark comedy The Canning Season, Horvath reprises the unalloyed giddiness of Everything on a Waffle--and ups the ante with some outrageous, Pirandello-like flourishes . . . the sly running jokes about place names and brazenly funny developments keep the conceit and the comedy energetic all the way to the finish line.” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Distinctive and decidedly hilarious . . . Young readers won't be able to turn the pages fast enough to discover the Pepins' newest predicament. . . . A delight.” —Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review
“Horvath spins deliciously silly stories about a family rivaling Hale's Peterkins for foolishness and Cresswell's Bagthorpes for effervescent wit. Each preposterous event holds fresh surprise. . . . Hafner's line drawings visualize the shenanigans with comic amiability. Here's one reader beaming thoughts to both author and illustrator: Thanks for the laughs! More, please!” —The Horn Book Magazine, Starred Review
“The sly humor is just right for upper-elementary-school kids, and this book should be a fun read-aloud for younger listeners.” —School Library Journal
“Horvath spins a delightful yarn . . . the wordplay is a great argument for reading this aloud; adults will enjoy the story almost as much as children.” —Booklist