Noodleheads See The Future, folk tales with a Fly Guy twist

Chimichanga. We called our youngest son that once when he did something silly. The name stuck and we still call him chimichanga when he’s being silly or makes a basic mistake. Noodleheads See The Future is an early reader chapter book that uses noodles as the main characters. There’s Mac and Mac who are the main characters, they are actually noodles in body and myth.

It turns out that ‘noodles’ or ‘noodleheads’ have been slang for people who don’t think for generations. It makes sense and I’ve heard the term before, but didn’t realize that it was a worldwide thing. However, in Italy, Turkey, England and beyond people have been referring to fools as noodleheads for a very long time.

Noodleheads See The Future is by Tedd Arnold, Martha Hamilton and Mitch Weiss. It’s illustrated by Tedd Arnold, whose Fly Guy series has been an early reader staple since 2005. Arnold’s style of drawing is especially evident in the facial expressions that the noodles and other characters have in this book. Even if kids don’t know his name, they’ll recognize aspects of this book through his distinctive style.

The vocabulary in Noodleheads See The Future is on par with his Fly Guy books. First grade students will be able to read it with almost 100% proficiency. Parents could also categorize this as a child’s first graphic novel as the book is a three chapter introduction to Mac and Mac as they try to learn about the future.

The two are with their mother who wants to build a garden. That’s all well and good, but the boys want cake so they go off into the forest to get fire wood so that she can build a fire to make a cake. Mac and Mac meet a meatball who convinces them that he can see the future. That leads them to a poor trade where meatball gives the two some acorns.

In the end the two try to plant the acorns, fail in doing that, but are successful in digging dozens of holes which then become their mom’s garden. She’s so pleased with them that she goes inside to bake a cake after she plants her seeds.

This is good, silly fun pre-k kids will like to read along to, kindergarten students will practice sight words to and first grade kids will enjoy reading on their own. The large illustrations are new, but familiar due to the fact that every elementary child in the world knows about Fly Guy.

Noodleheads See The Future is allegorical reading where children will learn about actions and consequences through fables that their great grandparents from at least two generations ago were reading.  Children may not realize that the story has classic roots, but they will enjoy reading it as they laugh along to the Noodleheads.