The Night the Moon Ate My Room!, by Jesse Wilson

The Night the Room Ate My Room!
Author: Jesse Wilson
Publisher: Tate Publishing
Publication Date: September 4, 2012
Source: Goodreads
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Oh dear. I can tell that author Jesse Wilson loves this book dearly. Not only did he promote it on Goodreads (which is where I first heard about it, and how I won a free giveaway copy--thanks again) but when he sent me a copy I saw that he had also sprung for the matching bookmark. This book is his baby. Not only that, but his author bio lists his job as giving "educational performances of The Night the Moon Ate My Room for schools." Eek! This book is his life. So I'd hat to tell him I didn't love it.

In fact, if your name is Jesse Wilson and you're reading this you may want to just stop right now. Go get some tea, take a walk, then come back and look at a different website altogether. Okay?

Okay.

The truth is I hated this book. There's so much I hated about it I don't even know where to start because it makes me feel a little mean. But here are the main criticisms:

First, the book is such a clumsy allegory that even the author of the "Footprints in the Sand" poem would be like, "Whoa! Pull back a little!" It's like if you took a Mitch Albom book (say, Five People You Meet in Heaven) but stripped away all the sentimentality and relatability and all the things that make you care about hte character, and all you were left with was "The Lesson." Or if you took a Roald Dahl book (like James and the Giant Peach, for example) and surgcally removed all whimsy and clever writing until all that remained was...well, still better than this book, quite frankly.

Don't believe me? Well how about this. Even though the book is over 120 pages long he never bothers to give the main character a name. It's not all told in the first person either. Most of it is a third person narrative in which he refers to the hero of the story as simply "the boy."

Few things irritate me more than authors who are so intent on "teaching a lesson" that they forego good writing, good editing or good storytelling in order to focus solely on "the message." I find it insulting to the target audience and to the target buyers, teachers and parents. Because do you know who doesn't have to sacrifice good storytelling in order to impart a lesson? Good storytellers. And Jesse Wilson is not one.

Whew! I'm glad I asked him to leave the room before he read that.

Black and Bittern Was Night, by Robert Heidbreder (illustrated by John Martz)

Black and Bittern Was Night
Author: Robert Heidbreder
Illustrator: John Martz
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Publication Date: August 1, 2013
Source: NetGalley and Edelweiss
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What an unusual book! It reminds me a little bit of the Dr. Seuss meets The Nightmare Before Christmas, with all the adorable spooky skeletons trying to take over the holidays. In this case it's "skel-a-mug-mugs" who are trying to scare everyone in town so that Halloween is cancelled. It almost works when the "tall-bigs" lock up their "doorholds" and "drapefolds" and won't let their "tyke tots" out to trick-or-treat. Luckily the kids know better and sneak out to out "splook" the skel-a-mug intruders. The nonsense rhyme with made up words and silly tongue twisters is hard to read but surprisingly easy to understand.

It would also make a good exercise for elementary school aged children to try to figure out the silly poem's meaning. Poetry can be a bit daunting and inscrutable for some, and what better way to take on the task of deciphering poetry than to practice on a silly rhyme about skeletons at Halloween?

My daughter Magda had fun picking out all of the children's Halloween costumes ("Look! A wolf! I wonder why he doesn't have any candy?") as well as the silly skeleton features (some were wearing glasses, others suspenders). She was so amused by the silly rhymes and charming pictures that she forgot to be scared by the spooky "splooks."

Magda's favourite part: When they were trying to go in the houses but they couldn't get in. The pictures were so funny.

My favourite part: Don't laugh, but I really liked it because it reminded me of Plants vs. Zombies.

NOTE: I borrowed the "Magda's favourite part/My favourite part" idea from a great children's book blog called Read It Daddy. It's written by a dad from the UK with his daughter Charlotte and features "Charlotte's best bit" and "Daddy's best bit" in each review. You should definitely check it out. It's all kinds of awesome.

Loula is Leaving for Africa, by Anne Villeneuve

Loula Is Leaving for Africa
Author: Anne Villeneuve
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Publication Date: September 1, 2013
Source: NetGalley and Edelweiss
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Loula has had enough! Her triplet brothers are loud, stinky and driving her crazy! She's decided she's going to Africa. She doesn't know where that is, but she knows that it's very, very far away. So she packs her bags (her bunny, her tea service and her best drawing), tells her opera singer mother and her moustache-crafting father (is that a job?) that she's leaving. Then she's off. Luckily her chauffeur is actually paying attention and he spends the day with Loula, taking her on a "ship" (the town car) to "Africa" (the park), using their imaginations to have a day long adventure.

Magda ADORED this book. I'm sure we've already read it twenty times. When I asked her what her favourite part was she told me about ten different things. Here are the highlights:

Magda's favourite part: "I really like the name 'Loula.' But I liked how the driver called her 'mademoiselle' because that's like a fancy thing to say. And I like how they go to the park and have a picnic and stay out really late even after it starts to get dark. But why were Loula's brothers stinky? Were they really stinky? Did they just need a bath?"

My favourite part: Oh the eccentricities! The hipster haberdasher father, the opera diva mother, the little girl with her own chauffeur, the absurdity of the whole premise. I love it! It reminded me of those Eloise books about the little girl who lives at the Plaza Hotel. It's like stepping into a whole different world by reading about this little girl's life, which is sort of the point of the story anyway. So good!

I don't know much about author/illustrator Anne Villeneuve except that she wrote/drew a wordless book called The Red Scarf, but I hope she considers giving Loula her own series. I think my daughter would happily read 30 more books about this little girl!

Cozy Light, Cozy Night, by Elisa Kleven

Cozy Light, Cozy Night
Author: Elisa Kleven
Publisher: Creston
Publication Date: October 15, 2013
Source: NetGalley
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This is sort of a book of seasons with each page finding "cozy" things about each time of year. It's a great book to snuggle up--nice and cozy--with a little one and read before bed.

It's also a book you could read again and again because each page is filled with such detailed pictures. There are children playing, dogs running, butterflies fluttering, snow falling, stars twinkling, cats pouncing, and more.

It's also nice to see the same word used in so many different contexts. It really deepens the understanding of the word, which is lovely.

Magda's favourite part: "I like how they keep saying cozy everything. It reminds me of Cozy Little Book Journal!"

My favourite part: I have to agree with Magda. I'm a sucker for a book that has "cozy" in the title. But I also love the rich illustrations with lots of details to explore.

Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots, by Sheryl and Simon Shapiro

Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots
Series: Shapes and Spaces
Authors: Sheryl and Simon Shapiro
Publisher: Annick Press
Publication Date: July 4, 2013
Source: NetGalley
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I received digital review copies of Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toe and Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots (Firefly Books/Annick Press) from NetGalley. Quite frankly I'm a little surprised they were marketed on NetGalley because neither of them seem like the type of book that would generate pre-market buzz, or even the type of book that you would buy based on a recommendation. They're both books of stock photography accompanied by simple and unimaginative text about shapes and patterns. They're the kind of books you might pick up on the sale rack at the book store or grocery store. They might catch your eye and you might get them for your child or grandchild if they weren't very expensive, but...well they're not...oh I hate to be mean but...they're just not special. There are lots of books like this on the market and I'm at a loss to think of what makes either of them better than any of the many others available.

Here's the cover of Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toe:

Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toe, by Sheryl and Simon Shapiro

Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toe
Series: Shapes and Spaces
Authors: Sheryl and Simon Shapiro
Publisher: Annick Press/Firefly Books
Publication Date: July 4, 2013
Source: NetGalley
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I received digital review copies of Zebra Stripes Go Head to Toe and Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots (Firefly Books/Annick Press) from NetGalley. Quite frankly I'm a little surprised they were marketed on NetGalley because neither of them seem like the type of book that would generate pre-market buzz, or even the type of book that you would buy based on a recommendation. They're both books of stock photography accompanied by simple and unimaginative text about shapes and patterns. They're the kind of books you might pick up on the sale rack at the book store or grocery store. They might catch your eye and you might get them for your child or grandchild if they weren't very expensive, but...well they're not...oh I hate to be mean but...they're just not special. There are lots of books like this on the market and I'm at a loss to think of what makes either of them better than any of the many others available.

Here's the cover from Ladybugs Have Lots of Spots:

Valentino Finds a Home, by Andy Whiteside (illustrated by Catherine Hnatov)

Valentino Finds a Home
Author: Andy Whiteside
Illustrator: Catherine Hnatov
Publisher: Star Bright Books
Publication Date: April 15, 2012
Source: NetGalley
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Valentino is a South American guinea pig and he worries that his days may be numbered. When he walks by restaurants and diners he can't help but noticed that his species is often on the menu. Eek! What's a fluffy rodent to do? Well he must escape obviously. But first--a training montage!

Valentino joins a gym. He lifts weights. He learns to swim. He listens to the soundtrack from Rocky. (I may have added that last one myself.) Once he's very fast and strong, he heads to the airport to sneak into someone's luggage. His plan is a success. Hoorah!

Of course he does have to put up with people calling him a rat all the time, and he runs the risk of being exterminated or put in a lab, but luckily he makes his way to a pet store where he is finally adopted by a lovely little girl named Maddie...even if everyone does still think he's a rat.

Magda's favourite part: "Well, I didn't like the part where everybody kept calling the guinea pig a rat. But I did like the part where Valentino says, 'I'm not a rat. I'm a guinea pig!' I liked that."

My favourite part: The details in the illustrations, like the Louis Vuitton bag in the picture above. Also, the fact that they mention guinea pigs as food in South America, which is absolutely true.