Parts is children's book

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

 written and illustrated by Tedd Arnold

Tedd Arnold

Tedd Arnold is a children's book writer and illustrator. He has written over 50 books, and he has won the "Theodor Seuss Geisel Honor" for his book "Hi! Fly Guy!". He currently lives in Elmira, New York, United States. He worked as a commercial illustrator before beginning his career writing...

. It was first published in 1997. Written in rhyme

Rhyme

A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...

 with cartoon

Cartoon

A cartoon is a form of two-dimensional illustrated visual art. While the specific definition has changed over time, modern usage refers to a typically non-realistic or semi-realistic drawing or painting intended for satire, caricature, or humor, or to the artistic style of such works...

-like watercolor illustrations, Parts is the first in Arnold's trilogy

Trilogy

A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...

 on the theme of body parts

Human body

The human body is the entire structure of a human organism, and consists of a head, neck, torso, two arms and two legs.By the time the human reaches adulthood, the body consists of close to 100 trillion cells, the basic unit of life...

. It was followed by More Parts in 2001 and Even More Parts in 2004. In 1998, it won the "Tellable" Stories for Ages 4-7 Award (Storytelling World) and in 1999, the Colorado Children's Book Award.

Plot summary of Parts

The story is aimed at 4-7 year-olds. It was inspired by a real life experience, when the author's young son, Walter, was disturbed by losing his first tooth

Deciduous teeth

Deciduous teeth, otherwise known as reborner teeth, baby teeth, temporary teeth and primary teeth, are the first set of teeth in the growth development of humans and many other mammals. In some Asian countries they are referred to as fall teeth as they will eventually fall out, while in almost all...

. The (unnamed) protagonist of Parts is little boy who notices that his skin is peeling, some of his hairs remain on the comb, and his tooth is loose. His anxiety reaches its peak when a piece of mucus

Mucus

In vertebrates, mucus is a slippery secretion produced by, and covering, mucous membranes. Mucous fluid is typically produced from mucous cells found in mucous glands. Mucous cells secrete products that are rich in glycoproteins and water. Mucous fluid may also originate from mixed glands, which...

 (which he assumes is a piece of his brain

Human brain

The human brain has the same general structure as the brains of other mammals, but is over three times larger than the brain of a typical mammal with an equivalent body size. Estimates for the number of neurons in the human brain range from 80 to 120 billion...

) falls out of his nose. Convinced that he is falling apart and will soon become toothless, skinless, brainless, and bald, the boy tries to hold himself together with his father's masking tape

Masking tape

Masking tape is a type of pressure sensitive tape made of a thin and easy-to-tear paper, and an easily released pressure sensitive adhesive. It is available in a variety of widths. It is used mainly in painting, to mask off areas that should not be painted...

 until he resembles a mummy

Mummy

A mummy is a body, human or animal, whose skin and organs have been preserved by either intentional or incidental exposure to chemicals, extreme coldness , very low humidity, or lack of air when bodies are submerged in bogs, so that the recovered body will not decay further if kept in cool and dry...

. Finding him wrapped in the masking tape, his parents then explain to him about how parts of his body renew themselves.

More Parts

This sequel

Sequel

A sequel is a narrative, documental, or other work of literature, film, theatre, or music that continues the story of or expands upon issues presented in some previous work...

 to Parts was first published in 2001. Like its predecessor, the story is aimed at 4-7 year olds, written in rhyme

Rhyme

A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...

 and illustrated by the author. The little boy from Parts now becomes frightened by his literal interpretation of the idomatic

Idiom

Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...

 expressions involving body parts that he hears adults using. Imagining that these expressions could lead to his body falling apart (his central preoccupation in Parts), the boy invents various kinds of protection for himself. For example, when his father asks him "to give a hand", he glues gloves to his hands to keep them from coming off his arms. Other expressions covered in the story include:

• "It’s sure to crack you up."
• "Stretch your legs."
• "Hold your tongue."
• "Scream your lungs out."

Even More Parts

This final book in Arnold's trilogy

Trilogy

A trilogy is a set of three works of art that are connected, and that can be seen either as a single work or as three individual works. They are commonly found in literature, film, or video games...

 was published in 2004, and is again illustrated by him. Unlike its two predecessors, Even More Parts is not, strictly speaking, a narrative

Narrative

A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...

 and is not written in rhyme. Aimed at children 4-8, it is an introduction to the use of idioms

Idiom

Idiom is an expression, word, or phrase that has a figurative meaning that is comprehended in regard to a common use of that expression that is separate from the literal meaning or definition of the words of which it is made...

 or figures of speech

Figure of speech

A figure of speech is the use of a word or words diverging from its usual meaning. It can also be a special repetition, arrangement or omission of words with literal meaning, or a phrase with a specialized meaning not based on the literal meaning of the words in it, as in idiom, metaphor, simile,...

 in language, and more specifically to the use of idioms involving body parts. The protagonist is the same little boy in the first two books of the series, although he now has a name – Chip. Chip has compiled a list of all the worrying and mystifying things he has heard from adults, and makes himself a suit of armour

Armour

Armour or armor is protective covering used to prevent damage from being inflicted to an object, individual or a vehicle through use of direct contact weapons or projectiles, usually during combat, or from damage caused by a potentially dangerous environment or action...

 to protect him while he is at school. The remainder of the book is an illustrated list of the sayings that have puzzled him. For example, one page shows the students in a classroom throwing their eyeballs at the teacher when she says, "I want all eyes on me." The illustrations often feature minor characters from the previous books – Chip's toy super hero, dinosaur

Dinosaur

Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...

 and tank

Tank

A tank is a tracked, armoured fighting vehicle designed for front-line combat which combines operational mobility, tactical offensive, and defensive capabilities...

.

Bibliographic information

• Tedd Arnold, Parts, New York: Dial Books for Young Readers
  Penguin Group
  The Penguin Group is a trade book publisher, the largest in the world , having overtaken Random House in 2009. The Penguin Group is the name of the incorporated division of parent Pearson PLC that oversees these publishing operations...
  
  , 1997. Illustrated by Tedd Arnold, 32 pages. ISBN 0803720408
• Tedd Arnold, More Parts, New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2001. Illustrated by Tedd Arnold, 32 pages. ISBN 0142501492
• Tedd Arnold, Even More Parts: Idioms from Head to Toe, New York: Dial Books for Young Readers, 2004. Illustrated by Tedd Arnold, 40 pages. ISBN 0803729383

(Other editions of these books have been published by Puffin

Penguin Books

Penguin Books is a publisher founded in 1935 by Sir Allen Lane and V.K. Krishna Menon. Penguin revolutionised publishing in the 1930s through its high quality, inexpensive paperbacks, sold through Woolworths and other high street stores for sixpence. Penguin's success demonstrated that large...

 and Scholastic Inc.)

External links

• Tedd Arnold's official web site. Accessed 24 September 2010.