Category / Children’s

by PerfectlyTolerable

The Wendy

The Wendy

by Erin Michelle Sky & Steven Brown

**** (4 out of 5)

wendy

Amazon | Goodreads

Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links. If you purchase any of these books through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts/opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

I read this book as part of the April read-along hosted by Steff @ Reader Fox and a Box of Books.  Go check out this blog! Its awesome 🙂 And it has been really cool to participate in a read-along! Right now I am planning on participating in May too, but it is dependent on the book picked and my schedule, but fingers crossed!

Lets start out with the cover.  I LOVE this cover!  It might be one of my favorite covers ever!!!

The book itself is an easy read.  Its only 280 pages and I read most of it in one night.  The way it is written it fairly simple, but it works well with the story.  There are parts where the narrator breaks the fourth wall and I really enjoyed that.

I loved the way the incorporated the original story into 1780’s London.  At first the connection to the original story was subtle.  Mostly just their names were the same.  Wendy, John, and Michael are coworkers and they are best friends.  Close enough to be family, but definitely not related.  The connection got a little less subtle when Peter Pan and Captain Hook were introduced. In all honesty I thought they kept those two characters a little too much like their originals.  Peter is too childish and Hook is too mean.  I think it would have made for a better story if they were both a little bit less single faceted.  You can keep their basic personalities but not go too over the top.  I also think the conflict within Wendy would be more realistic if Hook was more likable.  If you slowly discovered his faults instead of having them thrust upon you, it would have been much better.

Even tho I wasn’t crazy about Peter or Hook, I LOVED Wendy! She is both feminine and a fighter and I love it! She has to work to fit in and be accepted in a male dominant society.  She has to get people to like her, then trust her, then accept her, then understand her and then finally she can show them her skills and ask them to help her improve.  Its brilliant.  She is such a strong woman and she knows what she wants and doesn’t let discrimination stand in her way!

The ending was just ok.  There is obviously going to be a sequel, and it just sort of ended without any real conclusion.  This is one of my biggest pet peeves.  You are just left hanging.  Plus with the book being so short why didn’t they just make it into one larger book? Why make it into a series?  It doesn’t make sense to me.

I debated giving this book a 3 instead of a 4.  I didn’t really like Hook or Peter and I found the ending lacking.  But the book isn’t about Peter or Hook, its about Wendy, and she is amazing.  Plus it was an easy fun read and overall I enjoyed it.  Even though it has its flaws, 3 just felt too low, so 4 is my final rating.  If you like fairy tale retellings then you will probably enjoy this book too!

by PerfectlyTolerable

Don’t Forget Dexter!

Don’t Forget Dexter!

by Lindsay Ward

**** (4 out of 5)

Dexter

Amazon| Goodreads

Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links. If you purchase any of these books through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts/opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

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This was a cute kid’s book, told by a toy dinosaur that was left behind.  He is so sad and determined to find his kid.  Its so cute!  Its written as though Dexter the T-Rex is talking to you, the reader, which I feel is super interactive and engaging.  The colors are great. and its easy to read and it flows nicely.

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The only issue I had with the book is at one point Dexter is full of confidence in how great of a toy he is.  He lists all his great traits like his tail and teeth and claws.  But then he asks the reader “What do you mean, maybe he likes something more? More than me? Like another toy?” and then he gets all anxious and lists cool things he doesn’t have, like wheels and lights.  The book implies that the reader told Dexter that he wasn’t good enough.  This really really bothers me.  I would never say this to a lost toy! Or a lost anything! Its so sad and awful! I would hope no one would ever do that! I know its kind of a silly thing to get worked up about but it really bothered me!

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Other than that one thing, I really liked the story! I would definitely recommend it!

by PerfectlyTolerable

Children’s Books Mini Reviews

I am 9 books away from completing my GoodReads challenge and there is no way I can read 9 full size books in 2 days!  I am going to cheat a little and read Kid’s books.  I have a 6 month old niece so I asked my sister if I could borrow some books.  She laughed at me but brought some over anyway!  Since I am reading so many so quickly I am only going to do mini reviews.

Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links.  If you purchase any of these books through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts/opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

I Think My Dog Might Be a Nerd

by Justin Matott

**** (4 out of 5)

Nerd

Amazon | Goodreads

My mom got this for me for Christmas since we just got a dog and I am a total Nerd.  She works at a store that sells items from local businesses, so Justin Matott is a fellow Coloradan.  He signed the book for us!

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This book is super cute.  I like the concept.  How could anything with Nerdy Dogs be bad?!?!  Its easy to read and the flow is nice.  Its a fun book.  The only reason it didn’t get a 5 is because I am not a huge fan of the artwork.  I don’t know why, it just isn’t super appealing.  Otherwise this is a great book!

The Monster at the End of this Book

by Jon Stone

***** (5 out of 5)

Monster

Amazon | Goodreads

I got this book for my Niece for Christmas.  I had just finished checking out and was leaving when I saw it on the Kohl’s Cares for Kids rack.  I remember this book from when I was a kid so I grabbed it and got back in line to get it for her.  I also got her the Grover stuffed animal to go with it.  She was only interested in the stuffed animal but my Mom, Grandma, and Sister all got really excited because they remembered the book too.

 

I LOVED this book as a kid! The story is very interactive and I can remember how funny it was!  It is incredibly clever and the artwork is bright and cheery.  Plus its Sesame Street which I watched all the time.  I used to laugh and laugh when my mom read this too me.  It didn’t matter that after the first time I knew how it ended, I loved the book and it was so fun to watch Grover try and stop me from turning the pages!

Another Monster at the End of This Book

by Jon Stone

**** (4 out of 5)

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Amazon | Goodreads

This book only gets a 4 because it is pretty much exactly like the first book except its got Elmo in it.  I like the original better.  This one is still good by itself, because I still love the idea and it is clever, but it loses a star for not being unique.

Snow

by Angela Lake

*** (3 out of 5)

Snow

Amazon | Goodreads

I like the artwork and the story reads well.  Its short and sweet.  The only issue that I have is that the adults don’t like the snow and the kids do.  I know lots of adults, including a police officer, that love snow too!

Vader’s Little Princess

by Jeffrey Brown

**** (4 out of 5)

Vader

Amazon  | Goodreads

This book is hilarious.  It takes real scenes from the movies and twists them into hilarious Father / Daughter interactions.  This one is my favorite:

I Know

This book is a bunch of 1-4 panel comics and is probably geared more towards adults than kids, but it was fun to read.

How to Dress a Dragon

by Thelma Lynne Godin

***** (5 out of 5)

Dragon.PNG

Amazon | Goodreads

This book is freakin adorable!  Its super easy to read and a perfect length.  The story flows nicely.  I love the artwork.  It is bright and colorful.  The plot is really cute.  Overall this is a perfect Children’s book!

Nibbles: The Book Monster

by Emma Yarlett

***** (5 out of 5)

Nibbles.PNG

Amazon | Goodreads

Ahhhhh! This book is amazing! I loved it! It it is super cute and unique.  Nibbles escapes his book and jumps into other books.  This book has interactive flaps and holes in the pages and the books he jumps into are smaller pages to make them feel like a different book.  I am not explaining it very well, but it was really cool! Nibbles is adorable and the art is great.  I would highly recommend this book!

Gaston

by Kelly DiPucchio

*** (3 out of 5)

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Amazon | Goodreads

If I saw this book in the store I never would have picked it up, which is a shame because the story is really cute.  I don’t like the artwork at all.  I don’t like the unfinished look of the pictures.  I did like the plot a lot, it was easy to read and flowed nicely.  The names of all the puppies were adorable.

Hooray For Diffendoofer Day!

by Dr. Seuss

**** (4 out of 5)

Diffendoofer.PNG

Amazon | Goodreads

The story is good.  It is classic Dr. Seuss.  Lots of rhymes and made up words.  The made up words in this book are easy enough to read. The problem with this book is the artwork.  I don’t like the pictures, and they are do not feel like Dr. Seuss.  There are a couple characters mixed in that are drawn in his normal style, but the majority of the book doesn’t have the right feel.  At the end of the book they have some original sketches from Dr. Seuss.  The sketches are his normal style! They should have used those!

Yay! I finished my Goodreads challenge.  I will write a post about that tomorrow (probably).

If you have read my reviews for No One Else Like You and Big Hid you might remember that I felt bad for giving them negative reviews.  I started to wonder if they weren’t good or if I was just too old to enjoy Children’s books.  These 9 books restored my faith in Children’s books! I liked them all, but especially The Monster at the End of this Book, How to Dress a Dragon, and Nibbles: The Book Monster.

Have you read any of these? What is your favorite Children’s book?

by PerfectlyTolerable

No One Else Like You

Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links.  If you purchase any of these books through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts/opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

* (1 out of 5)

No One Else Like You by Siska Goeminne and Merel Eyckerman

You

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.  Winning this book did not influence my review in any way.

This is the 2nd children’s book I have won in a Goodreads giveaway.  I had some issues with the first book, Big Hid, but now that I have read this book, I realize Big Hid wasn’t that bad.  In fact I liked it about 100 times better than this book.

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This book is hard to read.  Its not that long, it only took me about three and a half minutes to read, (not looking at the pictures at all)  but it felt like it took forever to get through.  A lot of the pages don’t flow.  It feels like the lines should rhyme, and some of them do, but most of them don’t.  It throws off the rhythm of reading.  The formatting makes each page look like it is a poem, so maybe that is why it feels like it should rhyme more.

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The concept is great, talking about differences between people, but it ended up being just a jumbled long list.  Stuff like, what you look like, what you believe in, where you live, what food you like, etc.  I think it would have been better if they would have concentrated more on why its okay to be different, and not just how people can be different.

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Finally, I wasn’t a huge fan of the artwork.  Its weird.  Just look at the cover.  There is a girl with a bear head and another with a pumpkin head.  I don’t think it will keep a little kid’s attention.  They like bright colors and fun pictures.  The pictures in this book are muted and busy.  There is too much to look at.

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Overall I didn’t like this book at all.  I will give it to my sister for my niece, because I don’t have a use for a children’t book.  If she disagrees with me and likes it I will edit my post to be less harsh.  I do feel bad rating a Children’s book this badly, but I really didn’t like it.

 

by PerfectlyTolerable

Big Hid

*** (3 out of 5)

Big Hid by Roisin Swales

Big

Disclaimer: All Amazon Links are affiliate links.  If you purchase any of these books through one of my links I will get a small commission! All the thoughts/opinions in this post are mine and in no way influenced by Amazon.

Amazon $10.51 

I won this book in a Goodreads giveaway.  Giveaways are free raffles for books.  The trade-off is that, if you win, you write a review.  Its that easy!  I have won 4 books so far.

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I don’t have any kids, but I have a 10 year old brother and a 3 month old niece.  I used to read a ton to my brother, but I have yet to read to my niece.  I am a bit out of the loop when it comes to children’s books, so I apologize in advance if my review offends anyone.  (I entered the giveaway with the intention of giving the book to my niece, but I still need to write the review)

In all honesty I thought this book was stupid.  The story was too simple, and missing a huge plot point.  Why did Big Hide?

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I feel like that should be an important part of the story. The back cover says “A tale of friendship and overcoming sadness,” but the story has no indication that Big is hiding because he is sad.

I did really like the colors and illustrations in the book.  The illustrations are different from anything I’ve seen, and they are fun.  The colors are bright, happy, and warm.  As weird as it sounds I also liked the physical feeling of the book.  It is fairly big (10.5″ x 9″) and the pages are very thick.  The texture of the pages is rougher than a normal page.  Almost like construction paper.

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I didn’t want to be unfair in my evaluation (I feel really bad calling a children’s book stupid) so I looked at other reviews online.  Most people just said it was beautiful and they liked the simplicity.  One person said Big Hid  “can easily start the conversation about sadness, depression, social anxiety”  I disagree with this because there is no indication he is hiding because he is sad.  No one had anything bad to say about the book, so I was still worried about my review.

Next, I brought the book to work, and gave it to a coworker to see what she thought.  While showing her the book,  a couple other guys joined the conversation.  Kristin, who has a 1 year old, thought the book was incredibly stupid. (her words not mine) Andy, who has two daughters aged 3 and 6, thought the book would be okay for a 2 year old.  Kristin disagreed saying that she wouldn’t even bother reading it to her 1 year old.  Andy did say that halfway through he thought Big wasn’t really hiding but that he had died, which would have been a little morbid, but not completely out there.  Gary, who doesn’t have kids, liked the illustrations, but thought the story was too simple.  All three agreed (without any prompt from me) that it was weird that the book left out why Big hid.

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I decided to go ahead and give it an honest 3 star review.  It is a children’s book so it is supposed to be simple, but it is missing a major key issue.  Other than that I didn’t have any issues with the book and I liked the illustrations.