Mr. Nogginbody Gets a Hammer

Beloved picture book creator David Shannon introduces a new character in a satisfyingly silly and subversive take on a familiar parable.

If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

After snagging his toe, Mr. Nogginbody makes a visit to his local hardware store in search of solutions. Armed with a shiny new hammer, he successfully fixes the nail protruding from his floor. But the satisfaction of his first repair carries him away, and he figures that anything resembling a nail―from a lamp switch to a fire hydrant―can be fixed with a good whack. The results are predictably and theatrically disastrous, until Mr. Nogginbody arrives at a gentle awakening and recognizes that not everything is a nail.