Review - David Gets in Trouble

David Gets in Trouble (David)
by David Shannon
Date: 2002
Publisher: The Blue Sky Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

"When David gets in trouble, he always says . . . 'NO! It's not my fault! I didn't mean to! It was an accident!'" Whatever the situation, David's got a good excuse. And no matter what he's done "wrong," it's never really his fault.

Soon, though, David realizes that making excuses makes him feel bad, and saying he's sorry makes him feel better. Once again, David Shannon entertains us with young David's mischievous antics and a lighthearted story that's sure to leave kids (and parents) laughing.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

What the hell was that?

Okay, maybe I just can't get past the illustrations. This kid looks like an evil, alternate-universe version of Caillou, and that just creeped me right out. He looks like his face has melted, and he even has pointy teeth. I can't say for sure, but I think I might've shied away from this book if it had been around when I was a kid because of the pictures alone.

And there's no story to redeem it. We just get page after page of David's excuses for being a brat. It's really hard to have sympathy for something that looks like it crawled out of your nightmares. So I couldn't exactly bring myself to care when he got punished. Seriously... is this thing supposed to be lovable? He has pointed teeth. Pointed teeth:

Nope. Sorry. This just isn't for me. Excuse me while I find some brain bleach.

Premise: 1/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 1/5
Illustrations: 1/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall: 0.83 out of 5