My Pet Roach Ted (Tales of the Barn Owl Bard)

Reviewed by Rosie Malezer for Readers’ Favorite – 5 Stars

My Pet Roach Ted is a brilliant and hilarious tale written and illustrated by Timothy Swiss. As his cousin Bill sleeps during a sleepover with Barn Owl Bard (Bob), six hairy legs climb up and crawl across Bill's bed in the middle of the night. Cockroach Ted's feelers touch Bill's skin, possibly in search of his feet which are poking out at the end of the bed. Although Bill is known for teasing girls when something scares them, Karma seems to have visited Bill that night as Ted's visit causes Bill to wake up, scream, and toss his sheet across the room while feeling in his hair. Once he has turned on the lamp and realizes eyes are upon him, Bill regains his composure as Ted climbs onto Bill's palm. Ted is then gently put back into his box so Bill can go back to sleep.

As an arachnophobe, I felt every bit of fear in Timothy Swiss' horrifyingly hilarious story which was more than just a little entertaining for a house guest staying over for the night. It is still uncertain whether the reader is meant to be seeing things through Ted's eyes but I am sure both were just as intrigued as the other, not to mention a tad amused. Adrenaline can make you do funny things in a fight or flight situation mid-sleep, and it is easy for the reader to empathize with poor Bill and his freaked-out behavior in front of a witness or two. The different states of being from the sequence of events - from sleeping and having no conscious mind to overthinking what horrific things might be happening - are clearly defined by Timothy Swiss in a perfect array. The shock of having a giant cockroach crawling upon you would be just as unnerving. I highly recommend My Pet Roach Ted to be read by anyone aged 12-100 years of age as some humor just never dies.