The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper

Title: The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper
Genre: Children’s
Author: Vic Crume
Illustrator (Text): Joseph Guarino
Publisher: Pyramid Books, New York, New York.
Series: “The Wonderful World of Disney”
Addendum: “From the Walt Disney Productions’ film based on the story by Herman Groves, Tom Leetch and Jan Williams”
Year: 1975
Pages: 128
Format: Paperback, mass-market format.
Provenance: Price sticker from Revco in the amount of 49 cents on front cover.
Cover Blurb Excerpt: “The carnival comes to Riverton. And ALvin, the Whiz Kid, is helping the Famous Professor Dimitrik build a new monster for his act. It’s called the WANGDOODLE MONSTER. You’d think Alvin was just having fun.”
Opening Sentence: “There was nothing unusual about seeing Alvin Fernald’s rockets standing on the launch pad he’d built in Mr. White’s vacant lot.”
Random Passage: “‘How come I always get the tough part?’ Shoie demanded. ‘I don’t want to climb any higher. Besides, it seems to me you told Daffy we’d be doing groundwork.’”
Notes: The mysterious Vic Crume penned several novelizations of movies and television throughout the 1960s and ’70s. It is likely the pen name for author Victoria Crume (1914-1979). As for The Whiz Kid and the Carnival Caper, it originally aired as a special episode of NBC’s The Wonderful World of Disney on January 11, 1976. Sadly, it will not be amongst the initial offerings on the much-hyped Disney Plus streaming service.