Product Description

Nobody wants to adopt the Shluffmuffin twins. Wally's feet stink something awful, and Cheyenne is allergic to everything. Then why are the Mandible sisters so eager to take them home? And what sort of old maids would choose to live in a place called Dripping Fang Forest, where zombies wander the woods singing "Itsy Bitsy Spider" and ten-foot-long glowing slugs want to suck the feet right off your ankles? Would it seem ungrateful of Wally to point out the Mandible sisters' extra arms? Or to question their all-chocolate, all-the-time menu? Or, um, to venture into the cellar, where the twins have been told to NEVER, EVER, EVER go? Yeah, perhaps that last bit was a mistake. Now there's nothing left for the Shluffmuffins to do but run--run for their lives!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #566328 in Books
• Published on: 2006-08-04
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 144 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 3-5–The influence of Lemony Snicket looms large in this mock gothic tale. The 10-year-old Shluffmuffin twins long to be adopted out of the Jolly Days Orphanage. Unfortunately, Cheyenne's constant nose-dripping allergies and Wally's vile-smelling feet repulse most prospective parents. The elderly Mandible sisters, however, are oddly elated over the children's hygiene issues and take them home, on trial, to their weird mansion deep in Dripping Fang Forest. The Onts, as the old ladies want to be called, provide comfortable rooms and delicious chocolate meals, but they warn the youngsters never to go into the cellar. Suspicious Wally does just that, and discovers that the sinister seniors are really giant ants in disguise, plotting to raise an army of ravenous oversized insects to reclaim the universe from humankind. This episode ends before the kids can alert the rest of the world, but a sequel is certainly being spun. Adults may be put off by the constant references to snot and boogers, but fans of the genre take this sort of thing in stride. Eerie black-and-white drawings complement the heavily tongue-in-cheek plot. While this is a bit over-the-top even for this genre, it is worth considering where demand for Snicket-style fantasy is especially strong.–Elaine E. Knight, Lincoln Elementary Schools, IL
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From AudioFile
Greenburgs story features snot-dripping Cheyenne and stinky-footed Wally Shluffmuffins, 10-year-old twin orphans who are up for adoption. From innocent kids to evil adults, the author has fun performing all his characters. For Hortense Jolly, the director of Jolly Days Orphanage, he uses an oily voice that immediately makes listeners suspicious. For sisters Heddy and Dagmar Mandible, who take home the two unlikely candidates for adoption, he uses phony grandmotherly tones that clearly suggest a nefarious intent. Neither the twins nor listeners will be surprised to discover that a dastardly plot is at hand: The women plan to use the children to take over the world, and, of course, someone must stop them. S.W. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Review
"Here's a funny scary bizarre adventure book you should read. If I were a giant insect, I would give it six thumbs up. " Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales and The Time Warp Trio series (Jon Scieszka, author of The Stinky cheese Man )

"Boy, was this a pleasure to read! I was hooked from page one. I loved every minute I spent with the Shluffmuffin twins, although I have to admit I was glad I was safe in my own house and nowhere near Dripping Fang Forest." (James Howe, author of Bunnicula )

"Wally and Cheyenne Shluffmuffin want to leave Jolly Days Orphanage, and they get their wish when the old Mandible sisters adopt them. But with a new home in eerie Dripping Fang Forest, and the Mandibles forbidding them to enter certain rooms, their new house might be creepier than what's lurking outside in the forest." (Disney Adventures (Nov 2005) )