Bob Graham gives an old nursery rhyme a wholly unexpected new twist in this tale that offers a hilarious back story and surprising conclusion to the famous tumble of an egg named Humpty. The Dumpty family lives with the circus, where mom, dad, and son Humpty perform nightly on the flying trapeze as the Tumbling Dumpties. Youngest family member Dimity willingly forgoes the bright lights and roar of the crowd for moments of quieter repose with her little silver flute. Humpty, meanwhile, spends his time out of the spotlight creating a name for himself in a different way—graffiti. He’d just finished spraying “Humpty Rules” with an old can of paint on a factory wall when he slipped. On the other side of the circus Dimity feels—deep within her shell—that something is very wrong. When no one hears her pleas to help Humpty, the shy egg takes it upon herself to do the very thing she hates the most. Resolutely placing herself center stage, she draws attention to Humpty’s plight with a boldness she never knew she had in an entertaining story about a very good egg indeed. Graham’s already funny premise is heightened further by an abundance of visual humor, not the least of which is the Dumpty family’s cozy egg-carton camper. (Ages 5–9)