Jennifer Wolfe, a Canadian teacher living in Michigan, has come up with an innovative way to invite young readers into her first picture book. The Mess is a simple story about an untidy family and their extremely messy home. When Mom, Dad, Noah, and Emma finally decide it’s cleanup time, they discover a plethora of unusual objects in the most unlikely places. The reader controls the details of the storyline by filling in the blanks with a word selected from a collection of 66 reusable stickers. The stickers, carefully selected for their silliness factor, include such inherently funny nouns as platypus, gherkin, and furball. Several stickers have been left blank as an invitation for readers to add their own goofy words to the mix.

Cindy Revell breathes necessary life into the characters with her colourful and quirky acrylic illustrations, since the straightforward text provides little in the way of character development. And while the story is not hugely compelling on its own, the silly combinations of word possibilities will produce giggles in even the most serious child.

The Mess is more than just a novelty book. Teachers and parents will find it useful for developing vocabulary and language skills in young readers. Librarians will likely be wary about the potentially easy-to-lose pieces, but at $7.95, this book is a bargain that will be read repeatedly by children eager to fill in the blanks for a new story twist every time.