Review - Jules vs. the Ocean

Jules vs. the Ocean
by Jessie Sima
Date: 2020
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 48
Format: e-book
Source: library

From the creator of Not Quite Narwhal comes a story about a young girl determined to impress her older sister by building elaborate sandcastles, even if that means standing up to the ocean and its smash-happy waves!

Jules is going to build the biggest, the fanciest, and the most excellent sandcastle. Her sister will be so impressed.

But the ocean has other plans.

Jules keeps building bigger, fancier, and more excellent castles, and waves keep smashing them.

And when the ocean takes her bucket, that is the final straw.

Jules is going to take a stand!

From beloved storyteller Jessie Sima comes the tongue-in-cheek story of the sand, the sea, and sisterhood—told with her signature warmth, timeless humor, and delightfully playful illustrations.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

While the illustrations are nice, the rest of the book is uninteresting and rather grating. It's basically about a little girl who doesn't learn from her mistakes and has zero critical thinking skills; a child this stupid should not be left on her own at the edge of the water.

Jules keeps building sandcastles right on the edge of the sea, only to have them washed away by the ocean waves. Undeterred, she keeps repeating the same mistake, expecting a different result. Finally, she decides the ocean is out to get her. She loses her bucket, her sister helps her build another castle (again, right at the edge of the water), and the ocean strikes again. Then the girls' mother tells them that the moon is in charge of the ocean... so they decide the moon is out to get them.

I just don't like reading about stupid people, no matter how young they are. It's tiresome. Check this one out for the appealing illustrations if you must... but don't expect a lot from the story.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.17 out of 5

Review - Harriet Gets Carried Away

Harriet Gets Carried Away
by Jessie Sima
Date: 2018
Publisher: Simon Schuster Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 48
Format: e-book
Source: library

From the author and illustrator of the bestselling Not Quite Narwhal comes a sweet and funny story about remembering where you belong, no matter how far you roam, or what you’re wearing when you get there.

Harriet loves costumes. She wears them to the dentist, to the supermarket, and most importantly, to her super-special dress-up birthday party. Her dads have decorated everything for the party and Harriet has her most favorite costume all picked out for the big day. There’s just one thing missing—party hats!

But when Harriet dons her special penguin errand-running costume and sets out to find the perfect ones, she finds something else instead—real penguins! Harriet gets carried away with the flock. She may look like a penguin, but she’s not so sure she belongs in the arctic. Can Harriet manage her way back to her dads (and the party hats!) in time for her special day?

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Harriet is a little girl who loves costumes. To prepare for her birthday party, she and her dads visit the store so they can pick up some last-minute items. Harriet wears her penguin costume (because that's what you wear when you have to run errands). In the freezer section, she encounters a whole bunch of penguins buying ice (I don't know why penguins would have to buy ice...) and she ends up going with them, getting into one of their hot-air balloons and sailing away over the sea. Realizing she's gotten carried away, she decides to go home... but that's easier said than done. She needs to enlist the help of a few friends to get back in time for her party, where almost nobody gets carried away in all the fun.

I wasn't sure what to expect from this one. But I enjoyed it more than I thought I might. Harriet's penchant for costumes is cute, and of course it makes sense that she has a costume party (she shares her costumes with her guests so nobody has to go without). Harriet's already an imaginative kid, and I guess the story is supposed to be more of her flights of fancy (after all, she left her dads at the deli counter, and they were still there when she "got back" from Antarctica). It's kind of fun to see this imaginative play shown in a more literal way. (And the ending, where her friend Olivia gets a little carried away, is amusing, too.)

I think this is a story that kids will probably enjoy. It's fun and silly and written quite well. I can't find much to complain about.

Quotable moment:

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.83 out of 5