Review - Loud Lula

Loud Lula
by Katy S. Duffield
illustrated by Mike Boldt
Date: 2015
Publisher: Two Lions
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: Amazon.ca

Lula may be a pint-sized gal, but she’s got a BIG ol’ voice!

Since her birth, Lula’s LOUD voice has wreaked ten kinds of havoc across Pryor County, disrupting humans and animals alike. Lula’s parents are worried: What’s going to happen when Lula starts school? Will Lula ever learn to use her “inside voice”? But when Lula spots something sinister making its way toward town, it seems that she may have found just the right use for that BIG ol’ voice after all. With a text chock-full of Southern charm and silly digital illustrations that bring this tall tale to life, kids will giggle at the antics of the unforgettable LOUD Lula.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Well, this is just plain ol' dumb. Loud Lula is the story of a future social pariah whose parents have allowed her to become the most blisteringly annoying child in town.

The child must have some sort of disorder. Maybe she can't hear properly, so she thinks she needs to shout. Maybe she has an auditory processing disorder. Maybe it's something else. But the fact that her parents just sort of ignore the problem for five years and then send her off to school (prompting the teacher to consider retirement) is just annoying. When they sent her to school for the first time, we're told that her father wanted to tell her to be quiet. But he didn't. Why not? Was he afraid of crushing her spirit? Unfortunately, by not teaching this child anything, the parents have created a public menace.

The rest of the story is just stupid. Fire doesn't retreat from sound, so Lula's saving of the town makes no sense. And while I don't usually mind if local speech patterns are used to add some cultural flavour, I thought that writing the whole story (and not just the dialogue) in that way was a bit much.

The illustrations are sort of cute, but I was too annoyed with Lula (and the permissive attitude of her parents) to really enjoy much about this book.

I can't even imagine how obnoxious this would be as an audiobook...

Premise: 1/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 3/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.83 out of 5