Trouble Gum by Matthew Cordell (2009) is about the many ways that bubble gum can become a disruptive distraction on a rainy day. Ruben is bored. It's raining and he's stuck in the house with his little brother Julius. Grammy "helps" the situation by offering the siblings some gum. Mom says to remember the rules: don't swallow it, don't play with it, don't blow big sticky bubbles with it. You can't get better foreshadowing than that! Ruben chews his gum--his first piece of gum--all kinds of ways before swallowing it. Mom says no more gum! But Ruben pleads and Grammy gives in. You guessed it, more disasters await. BTW, this is a family of pigs. You have to wonder if Cordell witnessed this first hand in his own family.
