"Late for School" by Steve Martin

Martin, Steve (2010). Late for School. New York, NY: Grand Central Publishing.

Illustrated by C. F. Payne

The New York Times Best Seller List

The story is based on a bluegrass banjo composition by Steve Martin from his banjo album "The Crow." The book comes complete with a CD which has a track of Martin singing his song and playing his banjo and another as an instrumental track to sing along to.

The protagonist is a middle school aged boy waking late and having to endanger his grandmother to get to the bus which he misses. He then trips on his shoelaces, almost falls into a pool, has a kite fly him, and finally gets to the classroom door after several more adventures only to come to a surprising realization!

It helps to "read" the book while listening to Martin sing the story. Although I am not a fan of the melody since it seems a bit "worked on" and it almost sounds like it's fighting with the lyrics, I did enjoy the banjo playing! I had no idea Steve Martin played and I was impressed! The story itself is quite funny but the words without the music are a bit tough to express smoothly in a read aloud setting.

The art, however, is superb! It seems to be a bit a-la-Norman-Rockwell with a cartoon-ish twist! I love the detail and the action it conveys! My favorite character in the art, of course, is the the boy protagonist who embodies Steve Martin to a tee!

View Steve Martin performing "Late for School" on Saturday Night Live HERE.