Review - Find Fergus

Find Fergus
by Mike Boldt
Date: 2020
Publisher: Doubleday Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 36
Format: e-book
Source: library

The hilarious mind behind I Don't Want to Be a Frog and Bad Dog brings picture book fans the super-funny, interactive story of Fergus the bear, who loves to play hide-and-seek with the reader . . . but can't really seem to get the hang of it.

Children will giggle from start to finish as they follow huge, loveable Fergus and see all the silly ways in which he is TERRIBLE at playing hide-and-seek -- such as hiding behind a VERY tiny tree ("Found you, Fergus! That was too easy!") or hiding in a giant crowd of bunnies and squirrels ("Try bears, Fergus. Bears!").

But wait -- the game isn't over yet! The last two pages fold out into a giant panoramic look-and-find scene, where Fergus is well and truly hidden, and young readers can have fun looking for him and lots of other silly details in the the crowd. There's a ton of play value in this adorable book, and children will want to come back to it again and again.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Find Fergus was a little underwhelming for me. The illustrations are cute and the premise is solid... but it's just not my thing. I've never really been big on Where's Waldo? and this is just a variation on that. Sort of.

Fergus the bear is really bad at hiding. Most of the book is taken up by his increasingly successful attempts to blend into a crowd. I don't think that part of the book has all that much re-read potential. At the end, though, Fergus gives the reader a list of 14 things to find other than him... so that could keep readers busy for a while.

This is fine if you love those books where you have to find things. The writing is solid and the premise is sound. It's just not for me.

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

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5

Review - Bad Dog

Bad Dog
by Mike Boldt
Date: 2019
Publisher: Doubleday Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

The differences between cats and dogs have never been funnier! In this hilarious new story from the illustrator of I Don't Want to Be a Frog, a little girl really, really wants a dog... but gets a cat instead!

"Look what I got for my birthday! A pet dog!" says a little girl holding a... cat? Rocky doesn't listen or obey like all the other dogs. (Because Rocky is a cat.) And Rocky hates her leash and doesn't seem to like other dogs. (Probably because Rocky is a cat.) And rather than play fetch, Rocky prefers to... lick between her toes? Ew. Rocky is a bad "dog"! BUT Rocky doesn't bark, and is so cute when she sleeps in sunny spots. Maybe Rocky IS a good dog? (Or, you know, maybe Rocky is a cat.)

Cat lovers and dog lovers alike will howl with laughter at this little girl's willful insistence that her cat is a dog. The hilarious ways in which cats and dogs are different are brilliantly illuminated with each turn of the page and will leave young readers and their grown-ups giggling.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This adorably illustrated book is about a little girl who asks for a dog for her birthday and gets one... sort of. Rocky isn't like most dogs: she doesn't like to go for walks, she won't obey commands, and she really doesn't like water. The girl concludes that Rocky's a pretty bad dog. But there are some things about Rocky that aren't so bad, either: she doesn't bark at the mailman and she doesn't chew up the girl's toys. Eventually, the kid concludes that Rocky would make a pretty good cat... without ever seeming to realize the actual species of her new pet!

The story is cute enough, but the illustrations are what make this book so appealing. The style is both cartoonish and detailed, and both cat and child are adorable. (The girl actually reminds me a bit of Disney's Lilo.) The facial expressions are precious, and show Rocky at her mischievous best.

I think kids (as well as adults) will enjoy this one. Books like this that tell one story with the text and another with the illustrations can be really effective if done well. And this one is.

Quotable moment:

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

Enjoyment: 5/5

Overall: 4.5 out of 5

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