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Why the Banana Split
So why did the banana split? Well, for the same reason that the jackhammers hit the road, the lettuce headed out, and the jump ropes skipped town. It was even enough to make the baseball players strike out. Here's a it's bigger than a breadbox. And named Rex. With Jimmy Holder's sly illustrations bringing every pun to life, Rick Walton's verbal deftness will leave readers splitting too-their sides.
32 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1998
4 people are currently reading
75 people want to read
About the author
Rick Walton
110 books50 followersBorn and raised in Utah, Walton is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Mormon Church. He served as a missionary to Brazil from 1976 to 1978, soon after he graduated from high school. Later, at Brigham Young University, he became president of the Brazil Club. In 1980, he graduated from Brigham Young with a bachelor's degree in Spanish and a minor in Portuguese, the language spoken in Brazil.
Walton's education continued after he obtained his degree. In 1980, he went back to Brigham Young for one semester of graduate work in business, but chose not to follow that career path. Deciding to become a teacher, he earned certification in elementary education from Brigham Young in 1987, as well as certification to teach gifted and talented students. Up to that point, he had held a number of jobs, including a year with the parks and recreation department of Provo, Utah. In 1987, he began teaching sixth grade at a local public school, then switched to a private school.
Also interested in computers, Walton would later publish several items of software. He left teaching to accept a position as software designer for IBM in 1989. In 1994, he turned to freelance software design and writing. He also returned to Brigham Young University once again, this time to earn his master's degree in English, with an emphasis on creative writing.
Walton's wife, Ann, with whom he has written many of his books, is a computer programmer. They were married in 1983, and have five children. With Dumb Clucks! and Something's Fishy! in 1987, the Waltons began writing books.
Walton's education continued after he obtained his degree. In 1980, he went back to Brigham Young for one semester of graduate work in business, but chose not to follow that career path. Deciding to become a teacher, he earned certification in elementary education from Brigham Young in 1987, as well as certification to teach gifted and talented students. Up to that point, he had held a number of jobs, including a year with the parks and recreation department of Provo, Utah. In 1987, he began teaching sixth grade at a local public school, then switched to a private school.
Also interested in computers, Walton would later publish several items of software. He left teaching to accept a position as software designer for IBM in 1989. In 1994, he turned to freelance software design and writing. He also returned to Brigham Young University once again, this time to earn his master's degree in English, with an emphasis on creative writing.
Walton's wife, Ann, with whom he has written many of his books, is a computer programmer. They were married in 1983, and have five children. With Dumb Clucks! and Something's Fishy! in 1987, the Waltons began writing books.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
June 22, 2022
Got this from the library today and have read it to 3 kids multiple times. So many puns, so many giggles, and so much fun.
December 6, 2019
Such a witty book on ways filled with idioms and ways to leave.
Talking Points: What would you do if you saw a dinosaur walking towards you? Do we sometimes prejudge people without getting to know them? Who did you dislike first that you later liked? How did that change happen? Do you tend to judge quickly when meeting people or do you tend to reserve judgment until you know people better? Are your first impressions of people usually right or wrong?
Essential Oil Pairing Tip - I'm choosing doTERRA's Thinker as the pairing for this book. Because sometimes we need to think of ways to get away, and sometimes we need to think about the logic and how we feel about coming back.
Talking Points: What would you do if you saw a dinosaur walking towards you? Do we sometimes prejudge people without getting to know them? Who did you dislike first that you later liked? How did that change happen? Do you tend to judge quickly when meeting people or do you tend to reserve judgment until you know people better? Are your first impressions of people usually right or wrong?
Essential Oil Pairing Tip - I'm choosing doTERRA's Thinker as the pairing for this book. Because sometimes we need to think of ways to get away, and sometimes we need to think about the logic and how we feel about coming back.
February 3, 2019
Far more clever than I expected. So many plays on words and turns of phrase that it is a fun book for adults to read as well as kids. Also a nice book for a high school English teacher to have a class analyze!
January 22, 2019
Funny story full of idioms and double meanings. Great illustrations.
April 11, 2019
If you're older, this book is cringe-worthy. If you're younger, you might not get all the word play. This wacky book would be ideal for older elementary school children. 3rd-5th
February 12, 2020
can't tell if the banana is racist, but that was fun
November 14, 2021
Cutest little book chock full of idioms! ❤️ A super book for ANY classroom in which figurative language is explored!
December 7, 2021
Super cute book
January 21, 2022
One of the cutest books I have read in awhile. Very pun-ny and would be a great addition to a classroom.
April 26, 2022
When something strange cones to town all the animals and things split town in curious and funny fashions. Preschool and up
April 7, 2023
Cute book! Great play on words. Perfect for those young readers learning words and their meanings.
May 14, 2013
The text has funny puns and the style is of loose animation sketches; everything is alive, down to silly faces in the water to make the water personified - times when its taken a bit too far. I like the idea of the images being this loose, but I think sometimes the images weren't thought through very carefully because of it. Every character has an exclamation point in his depiction, and they don't become special for repeat viewings - with everything light, it lacks some punch that would have come from a focal point. SOlution to story comes as a surprise at the end, a method often used in the books without any foreshadowing, but in this case goes with the "joke" style of the whole story.
June 6, 2009
Of the Rick Walton books I've read this was my least favorite. The disconnect starts on the first page after reading the title-- Why the Banana Split. I feel like the banana should be the main character, but really the dinosaur is the driving character and the banana is just one of many characters and they don't stand out to me as important. Anyway, the illustrations are fun and I really liked the use of cliched phrases because the point is to use them as much as possible and I thought that was fun, though I did think some worked better than others. But still, the bananas . . . just disappointing when I was looking for more focus on them. Silly perhaps, but still true.
April 7, 2009
Very funny and a great way for kids to learn word play, double entendre, and idiomatic phrases common to our language but depicted literally. Love this book; we had so much fun reading it and watching the kids gradually "get" the humor. Parents and kids of all ages will enjoy it.
October 20, 2010
I thought this was a very cute, creative book. The illustrations were a lot of fun to look at. The main thing I didn't like was the ending. It was kind of dumb and cheesy and I didn't understand the part about the bananas.
May 13, 2011
My little boy asks for this over and over again. That's in spite of the fact that I'm sure he doesn't get all the plays of language that Rick pulls off. This is Walton word work at its best--a little zany and always clever.
August 26, 2011
This book is a great way to teach/talk about puns. A dinosaur comes to town and scares all of the other characaters and "the trees took their leaves," "the astronauts took off," "the banana split," etc. Cute ending and a fun book.
July 26, 2012
A fun read full of puns. My 7 year old thinks it is hilarious. My 4 year old doesn't get it and my 5 year old peppers me with questions the whole time. A fun book, if you have the patience to explain it to them.
September 22, 2007
this was the first book I gave my oldest nephew that made him laugh and laugh. he would beg for it to be read over and over.
July 6, 2008
Rick Walton uses language beautifully and in a way that catches the reader's attention. The illustrations make us laugh out loud!
August 10, 2008
Cute take on picture books and silly. Good choice for research how to write easy picture books.
January 18, 2010
Great play on words book
August 20, 2011
Funny book! It might be fun to make our own book of silly idioms, with zany pictures to go with them, like this book has.
December 3, 2019
Another great idiom, homonym and homophone book. I really liked the illustrations of this one and the sweet story.
September 17, 2012
When Rex comes to town, everyone leaves... the jump ropes skip town, the astronaunts take off, the bananas split... Fun wordplay!
May 17, 2013
Fun story with lots of picture/word play. Some of it was a little far-stretched, but that brought it character.
May 31, 2014
3.75 stars This books is a total play on words...and it is fun to read. I don't love the pictures but it was still a fun read!
November 12, 2014
This is a great little picture book to teach puns (figurative language). My fifth graders loved it!
August 1, 2017
Great pun book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews