Little Monkey Calms Down, by Michael Dahl (illustrated by Oriol Vidal)

Little Monkey Calms Down
Author: Michael Dahl
Illustrator: Oriol Vidal
Series: Hello Genius
Publisher: Capstone Young Readers/ Picture Window Books
Publication Date: February 1, 2014
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Source: NetGalley

Wait, what? After I read this picture book with my daughter I felt I must have missed something. The monkey in the book is about to have a tantrum because he drops his ice cream, but then he doesn't. That's about it. His ice cream is still all ruined at the end. That does not get resolved. I think Little Monkey is perfectly within his rights to be upset, thank-you very much. I'm not sure if it's a reasonable lesson to try to teach kids, "When something crappy happens, deal with it by not caring about that crappy thing. When you lose something you love, deal with it by not loving that thing anymore. Problem solved."

If anything this book made me feel less calm than I did before. I felt bad for the poor little monkey who lost his ice cream. Deep breaths and singing quiet songs can help you get enough control of yourself so you can then go deal with what's actually wrong. But nobody helps Little Monkey get a new ice cream. Or clean up the old ice cream. Or tell him that there will be more ice cream in the future. NOTHING!

Maybe it's just because I really like ice cream. I'm sure kids won't be bothered by this. Kids don't like ice cream, do they?

Little Dinos Don't Bite, by Michael Dahl (illustrated by Adam Record)

Little Dinos Don't Bite 

(Hello Genius Series)

Author: Michael Dahl

Illustrator: Adam Record 

Publisher: Picture Window Books 

Publication Date: February 1, 2013

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As both a parent and a daycare teacher, I understand the need for resources about biting. BELIEVE ME! I'm not sure this book will be any child's favourite though. It's okay, but not fantastic. The illustrations are cute and colourful and dinosaurs are always a popular choice for children's book characters, but the "no biting" message is clearly aimed at the way adults think more than the way children think. Little Dino is told repeatedly "Don't Bite" (his toys, his friends, his mom) but he's never really told WHY. Small children would respond better to a story in which there was a concrete REASON why the character shouldn't bite (it hurts people, it breaks things, etc.) rather than it just being a rule. It's already a rule! Story books can help reinforce rules and ideas by illustrating "case studies." (You shouldn't bite. Don't believe me? Examine if you will the case of Little Dino.) 

It may sound like I'm overthinking this, but I believe strongly that children's books should NEVER sacrifice story for message, even board books for toddlers. It has to be a good book first and foremost if children are expected to respond to it. So books with "messages" are much better conveyed by good storytelling than by illustrated rule telling.

As an example of what I mean, I urge you to check out Doodle Bites, by Polly Dunbar (part of the Tilly and Friends series). It's fantastic and much better at getting the message across than this book.