“Okay.  Everybody here already knows us right?  We’re Pottymouth and Stoopid, thanks to all of you.  Those have been our nicknames since you gave them to us, like, forever ago.  We’re the class clowns.
            No, wait.  We’re the class jokes.
Well, today you’ll hear our real, true story.  And we get to tell it our way.  We might let some other people chime it, but it’s mostly going to be us, because, come on, this is our story.” David (aka Stoopid) pg. 1-2 Pottymouth and Stopid by James Patterson & Chris Grabenstein
 
David and Michael have been friends since they first met while painting in preschool.  Acting like silly four year olds boys, they both ended up with red and blue paint all over themselves, which immediately earned David the nickname Stoopid.  David admits … “What I did with the paint jars might’ve been dumb, but that didn’t automatically make me stupid.”. (pg. 11)  Michael didn’t get his nickname until third grade, when the whole class was making fun of David and Michael, in frustration, let loose with a series of creative words … “Rrrrrggghhh, hicklesnicklepox!  David isn‘t stupid, you flufferknucles!  He’s my friend, so stick your grizzlenoggies in your boomboolies and leave him alone.”. (pg. 24)  Now in the seventh grade, everyone still calls them Pottymouth and Stoopid, and believes they are just that, even their teachers and the principal.  But, that’s all about to change; unfortunately, it’s just going to get a little worse before it gets better. 
 
So, I will fully admit that the first time I saw this book I had a bad case of “judging a book by its cover (and title)” syndrome.  Then a few months later, while looking for a few new examples of Diary of a Wimpy Kid read-a-likes, I grabbed this book off the shelf and read the description on the inside cover.  Wow, was my first impression of this book wrong – very wrong!  I checked it out and read it and it isn’t a book about two kids with ridiculous nicknames. Pottymouth and Stoopid by James Patterson and Chris Grabenstein is a book about standing up for yourself and others, a book about kindness, and a book that teaches us not to judge others on a first impression.  Bullying isn’t always physical, sometimes words can hurt just as much, and sometimes words can stick with us for a very long time.