What do you think?
Rate this book
Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog! and Other Palindromes
What do Adam, Napoleon, and Agee have in common? Their bond is the palindrome, that peculiar marvel of language when words or sentences read the same forward and backward. But Adam (Madam, I'm Adam) and Napoleon (Able was I ere I saw Elba) are credited with only one palindrome apiece. Jon Agee has come up with a whole bookful!Each of the more than sixty palindromes is accompanied by hilarious illustration in the inimitable Agee style. Children and adults alike will enjoy these linguistic laughs.
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1991
3 people are currently reading
127 people want to read
About the author
Jon Agee
53 books162 followersI grew up in Nyack, New York, just up the street from the Hudson River. In our house, there was always an art project going on.
My early drawings were very animated: a lot of stuff zipping around, airplanes, racing cars, football players. No surprise my first published drawing was a pack of rats running along a highway (The Rat Race). I did that for the New York Times Op Ed page when I was still in high school.
I went to college at The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. I studied painting, sculpture and filmmaking, but what I loved doing most—in my spare time—was drawing cartoons and comic strips.
When I graduated, I hauled my pile of doodles into the offices of a bunch of editors, with the wild notion that somebody might publish them. When that failed, I wrote a story for kids to go with my pictures (If Snow Falls). It was two sentences long (which counts, by the way). Frances Foster, a wonderful editor at Random House, saw something in that book and signed me up.
The next book, Ellsworth, was about a dog who teaches economics at a university. When he gets home, he throws off his clothes and acts like a dog, which is fine, until some fellow teachers discover this and he loses his job. Somebody told me that Ellsworth was a story about "being yourself." I never realized it had a moral.
I moved to another publisher with Ludlow Laughs, the story of a grumpy guy who laughs in his sleep. This book was doing very poorly until the comedienne Phyliss Diller read it on PBS's Reading Rainbow. It stayed in print for over twenty years.
My fourth book, The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau, was a hit. One of the first people to see it and give it the thumb's up—literally, hot off the press—was Maurice Sendak. We bumped into each other at the printers. It was a lucky first meeting, and happily not our last.
That was all a long time ago. Since then I've written many other picture books, illustrated a few by other authors, and created a series of offbeat wordplay books, beginning with the book of palindromes, Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog!
I visit schools across the country and sometimes around the globe. I live with my wife, Audrey, in San Francisco.
My early drawings were very animated: a lot of stuff zipping around, airplanes, racing cars, football players. No surprise my first published drawing was a pack of rats running along a highway (The Rat Race). I did that for the New York Times Op Ed page when I was still in high school.
I went to college at The Cooper Union School of Art in New York City. I studied painting, sculpture and filmmaking, but what I loved doing most—in my spare time—was drawing cartoons and comic strips.
When I graduated, I hauled my pile of doodles into the offices of a bunch of editors, with the wild notion that somebody might publish them. When that failed, I wrote a story for kids to go with my pictures (If Snow Falls). It was two sentences long (which counts, by the way). Frances Foster, a wonderful editor at Random House, saw something in that book and signed me up.
The next book, Ellsworth, was about a dog who teaches economics at a university. When he gets home, he throws off his clothes and acts like a dog, which is fine, until some fellow teachers discover this and he loses his job. Somebody told me that Ellsworth was a story about "being yourself." I never realized it had a moral.
I moved to another publisher with Ludlow Laughs, the story of a grumpy guy who laughs in his sleep. This book was doing very poorly until the comedienne Phyliss Diller read it on PBS's Reading Rainbow. It stayed in print for over twenty years.
My fourth book, The Incredible Painting of Felix Clousseau, was a hit. One of the first people to see it and give it the thumb's up—literally, hot off the press—was Maurice Sendak. We bumped into each other at the printers. It was a lucky first meeting, and happily not our last.
That was all a long time ago. Since then I've written many other picture books, illustrated a few by other authors, and created a series of offbeat wordplay books, beginning with the book of palindromes, Go Hang a Salami! I'm a Lasagna Hog!
I visit schools across the country and sometimes around the globe. I live with my wife, Audrey, in San Francisco.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 1, 2014
I just finished reading this book forwards, and now i'll be reading it backwards
January 25, 2014
Most of these are quite clever, though many wouldn't make much sense without the accompanying cartoon.
Did you know that YELL ALLEY is right next to YAWN WAY?
Did you know that YELL ALLEY is right next to YAWN WAY?
April 1, 2013
If you like word puzzles, you'll love Agee's collection of palindromes - words and sentences that read the same forwards as backwards. Just try it with the title - go on, I'll wait. Now try these easier palindromes: "Star rats." "Wonton? Not now." With each, Agee pairs a simple, comical drawing that amplifies the humor perfectly. Plenty of white space gives young readers the time and ability to figure out these puzzles. Perfect for making flexible thinkers who have fun with words!
I also love, love the out of print Who Ordered the Jumbo Shrimp? and Other Oxymorons. Brilliantly funny, and perfect for kids.
I also love, love the out of print Who Ordered the Jumbo Shrimp? and Other Oxymorons. Brilliantly funny, and perfect for kids.
October 28, 2022
This book uses comedy to illustrate palindromes. Palindromes are words that read the same forwards and backwards; Things like “race cars”. While they do happen naturally, normally trying to get longer palindromes that make sense is hard. This author has made those nonsensical palindromes makes sense. Such things as “put Elliot’s toilet up” is drawn as an art gallery with a painting of a toilet, and the woman telling the galleries to hang it. Mr. alarm is a truck about to do a the delivery, and it ends with “Sue us” where a work crew dropped a tree on a house. It all goes together perfectly. It’s a shame it’s an older book and not many libraries would have it now but if you can get your hands on it, you should give it a look.
February 4, 2021
Good lord these are funny! It can't be easy to come up with a sentence that makes sense, but Agee does it. Even with the ones that are a stretch, his cartoon of the situation makes up for it. Great sense of humor, and some real home runs. Going to be some popular posts on FB. I don't even want to give any away-- the less you know, the more delightful it is to experience.
July 23, 2022
I got this book as a gift when I was in middle school I think and it did inspire a brief fixation in coming up with my own palindromes. The palindromes are fun (I think my favorite remains "Flower? Ew, a werewolf!") and the illustrations bring them to life perfectly. I reread it today for a challenge wherein I need to read a book whose title is a palindrome.
September 11, 2019
A fun distraction from reality with silly palindromes! I was given another of Jon Agee's palindrome books as a gift years ago and stumbled upon this one at the library, so I decided to pick it up. The cartoons are charming and bound to stimulate some creativity in readers.
May 20, 2017
This is fun. The ridiculous (that's a compliment) palindromes are illustrated with cartoons that make sense of them. My favorite may be "llama mall." Or maybe "Yer Duane 'n' Audrey?"
May 24, 2018
This was very humorous. I wish there were more in the book...it was pretty short. The pictures really add to the humor.
December 21, 2018
Oodles of fun! A great read for the whole family :)
February 20, 2019
Goofy little thing. Very fast read.
Just cartoons of palindromes.
Has a real nerdy innocence to it.
Amusing way to kill five or ten minutes.
Just cartoons of palindromes.
Has a real nerdy innocence to it.
Amusing way to kill five or ten minutes.
February 13, 2022
An excellent palindrome book!
October 14, 2022
What a cute palindrome book.
September 7, 2024
Delightfully absurd.
December 6, 2024
Clever and silly.
April 9, 2022
Do you want to read a silly comic that will make you laugh at strange sentences? Do you want to see images that help strange palindromes make more sense? If so you this book is for you!
June 7, 2019
Wonderfully funny. Lots of laugh-out-loud, droll illustrations. A delight for word lovers of any age.
June 21, 2008
Holy baloney! The last time I read or remembered this book was in about 4th grade. It was apparently quite effective, because any time I think of palindromes, the title of this book always comes to mind!
Like I said, it's been something like 15 years since I've read this, but my fourth grade self LOVED it.
Like I said, it's been something like 15 years since I've read this, but my fourth grade self LOVED it.
September 5, 2014
This is an entertaining collection of palindromes, some of which are quite long and humorous. The illustrations are cartoonish and complement the palindromes nicely.
Our girls loved reading these aloud and we will certainly look for more books like this at our local library.
Our girls loved reading these aloud and we will certainly look for more books like this at our local library.
March 29, 2008
This book is about palindromes which makes it interesting.It is also very funny. e.g: Go Hang A Salami I'm A Lasagne Hog
Read
July 24, 2011Is it possible for a book to be cute and yet completely boring at the same time? If so then this is the book.
April 8, 2013
I, madam, I made radio! So I dared! Am I mad? Am I?
July 1, 2014
How can society not love palindromes? I will never understand.
December 17, 2014
I stink at writing palindromes of more than three letters but admire those who can. This short book deserves five stars because it is literally amazing someone can cook these up.
May 30, 2016
Palindromes- HaHa
I get it.
I get it.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews