Rave review for 'The True Meaning of Smekday'

So Kelly and I saw the newish kids' movie "Home" twice, and it's hilarious and sweet, with Jim Parsons' dorky Sheldon voice just perfect as the oddball alien, and Rihanna and J.Lo surprisingly good in their parts as well.

Turns out it's based on a children's chapter book called, "The True Meaning of Smekday" by Adam Rex, which is awesome and worth a purchase and read in its own right. Kelly and I were reading it aloud last night and Rob kept overhearing lines and laughing out loud.

Don't think if you've seen "Home," you've read the book. It's very different from the movie--same general plot, but the book goes off in so many wonderful different directions and has so many hilarious jokes. The character voiced by Parsons is called Oh in the movie, ("I have been given this name by my many, many friends," he brags, as they cut to a montage of other Boov moaning "oh...." in disgust as he shows up.) But in the book, he announces that his Boov name cannot be pronounced by humans who don't have two heads, so he selects the name "J.Lo." Which makes the fact that J.Lo ends up playing Tip's mother ("My-mom!") all the funnier.

The main character, Tip, writes it as a series of essays telling future humans about the Boov invasion ("Smekday" is what they rename Christmas, after their leader, Smek.), and that format helps make it so delightfully quotable.

Examples: "At the time, I lived in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania was on the eastern side of the United States. The United States was this big country where everybody wore funny T-shirts and ate too much."

"I had learned to drive our car short distances by nailing cans of corn to my church shoes so I could reach the pedals. I made a lot of mistakes at first, and if anyone was walking on the sidewalk at 49th and Pine after dark on March 3rd, 2013, I owe you an apology."

If your kid is anywhere in the 6-11 age bracket, read this to them or with them, whether or not you see "Home." You will want to come into the out now.