Review - Abner & Ian Get Right-Side Up

Abner & Ian Get Right-Side Up
by Dave Eggers
illustrated by Laura Park
Date: 2019
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 80
Format: e-book
Source: library

Abner and Ian are stuck sideways. It's a problem.

Abner and Ian are stuck sideways on the pages of their picture book. They can't start the story like this! Ian is trying to be brave, despite his dizziness and fear of heights. But don't worry, because Abner has a plan: Readers will shake and turn the book until they get right side up! Sounds easy, right? Think again, because the real solution may be the opposite of what you'd expect.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

In the tradition of interactive picture books like Don't Push the Button! comes this silly story about a duck and a rodent who find themselves stuck sideways on the pages of their book. When they enlist the reader for help, the results aren't quite what they were hoping for... and things get really strange.

The interactive element here is basically just getting the reader to shake the book, so it's not as involved as some other similar picture books. But the draw here will be the characters and their banter as they wait for their problem to be resolved. Ian is verbose and a little pretentious, in contrast with Abner, who's a more matter-of-fact sort of duck.

If you enjoy interactive picture books, you might like this one. It's probably not going to appeal to super-young readers, however, thanks to Ian's wordy ways.

Quotable moment:

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

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.5 out of 5

Review - The Button Book

The Button Book
by Sally Nicholls
illustrated by Bethan Woollvin
Date: 2020
Publisher: Tundra Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

This silly and sweet picture book introduces young children to colors through humor and clever interactive elements. For fans of Hervé Tullet's Press Here.

Here's a button. I wonder what happens when you press it?

Follow a group of animal friends as they discover a collection of mysterious buttons, all of which do different things!

From a blue singing button to a purple tickle button, from a rude sound button to a mysterious white button, there's only one way to find out what they do: press them all! And thankfully, there's even a sleeping button to lull the animals to sleep after a busy day.

A lively introduction to colors and shapes, The Button Book is the perfect interactive book for storytime (and bedtime!).

(synopsis from NetGalley; see it on Goodreads)

The Button Book is one of those interactive picture books in the same vein as Bill Cotter's Don't Push the Button! series. It doesn't break the fourth wall to the same extent, as the "story" is about a group of animals finding various coloured buttons to push. Each button is a different shape and has a specific function: everything from blowing raspberries to having tickle fights.

I can see some kids really loving this (and some parents groaning when the book gets pulled out of the bookshelf). I don't know if I'm a huge fan of these interactive books, as they often don't have much of a story and rely on interaction with the reader for much of the enjoyment. (This is probably not one you're going to want to read at bedtime because of its potential to wind kids up.)

For what it is, it's fine. If you like this kind of picture book, you'll likely find much to enjoy here.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tundra Books for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.67 out of 5

Review - Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed

Five Little Monsters Jumping on the Bed
by Bill Cotter
Date: 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 22
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Larry the monster is up to his usual monkey-business, but this time he brought his monster friends in this new lovable Larry story from USA Today bestselling author, Bill Cotter!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book takes the classic children's rhyme "Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed" and gives it the Don't Push the Button! treatment.

Larry is watching the kids, and they're jumping on the bed. Inevitably, they fall off one by one and bump their heads. The reader is invited to perform an action on each monster to help them feel better.

This is a silly rhyme, really, and it says more about the permissive parent than it does about the rambunctious children. This is kind of addressed in the illustrations, since each time Larry calls the doctor and she tells him not to let the monsters jump on the bed anymore, she's looking more and more annoyed. (Seriously, Larry! No more monsters jumping on the bed!) The book ends with a predictable but logical conclusion. And, despite all the potential concussions, nobody seems worse for wear.

The interactive part of this book feels a bit gimmicky to me. That said, fans of Don't Push the Button! will probably enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Jabberwocky for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5

Review - Always More Love

Always More Love
by Erin Guendelsberger
illustrated by AndoTwin
Date: 2020
Publisher: Sourcebooks Wonderland
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

For readers of Don't Push the Button and Press Here comes an all new interactive story full of humor and sweetness. Always More Love is a heartwarming title and fun experience for families to share together about how the love for those special ones in your life only grows more and more each day. So what happens if you tap or squeeze the heart, or shake or flip the book? There's always more love.

I love you so much, but there's more in my heart.
How is that possible? Well, where do I start?

Tap my arms and legs to see
Just how much you mean to me.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I... don't get it.

I mean, I get that this book is trying to be like Don't Push the Button! Sort of. There's not a ton of "interactive" stuff, and what there is is kind of weak. Basically, this is just a prolonged rhyme told by a heart... and I think that's what's bugging me. Who is this heart supposed to be, and why does it keep saying it loves me? I don't even know it!

I thought maybe this would have more about diversity and inclusion (based on how the word "always" is coloured in the title), but aside from a brief mention of differences, there's not much about that. It's just this heart going on and on about how much it loves the reader.

Is it supposed to be the parent's heart? Or... is it just a disembodied organ that's eventually going to get charged with sexual harassment because it won't leave people alone?

I don't know. All I know is that I kind of wish there were a page with instructions on what the reader is supposed to do to make the repetitive heart stop saying it loves them. (I guess closing the book is as good a technique as any...)

Okay, in all seriousness, this isn't terrible, but I don't get the heart or what it's trying to accomplish. Trying to combine a poem about love with an interactive picture book that has kids flapping the volume in the air is just... odd. I'm sure there are some little kids who will take a fancy to this, but the adults who'll have to read it to them over and over might not be as enthused about it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Wonderland for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 2 out of 5

Review - The Book That Never Ends

The Book That Never Ends (Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! #5)
by Beck & Matt Stanton
Date: 2019
Publisher: ABC Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

For the Grown-Ups:

They say all good things come to an end ... but don't hold your breath!

You and the kids are about to zigzag your way through this book. Your choices will take you who-knows-where.

There's a legend that some people once found the end, but we're not convinced.

Oh, you think you can? Well, you're welcome to try.

And the kids will love it!

From the mind-boggling brains behind This Is a Ball, Did You Take the B from My _ook?, The Red Book and Wait! comes a brand-new crowd-pleaser!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Just when I thought I'd finished with this series, they come out with another book! Perhaps it's the series that never ends...

This book reminds me of the Choose Your Own Adventure books that were popular in the '80s and '90s. The premise is basically the same here: on each page, you choose from two or more options, and then go to the appropriate page for your next set of choices.

I wanted to make sure I saw all of it, so I read it straight through the first time. Not very interesting. So, on my second attempt, I read it as I was supposed to (note: this is not a simple thing to do with an e-book; it would be much easier with a physical book where you can flip the pages by hand). Anyway, it still wasn't very interesting, because I got to the end without having to circle around to any repeats. I guess my choices weren't that interesting (they also seemed to get me to the end rather fast, which was a little disappointing).

I guess this could be fun for kids who are too young for the Choose Your Own Adventure books, but it's probably going to be a bit boring for older kids. As far as this series goes, this book falls somewhere in the middle; it's not the worst, but it's definitely not the most entertaining of the bunch.

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

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 2.83 out of 5

Review - Touch the Earth

Touch the Earth (A Julian Lennon White Feather Flier Adventure #1)
by Julian Lennon & Bart Davis
illustrated by Smiljana Coh
Date: 2017
Publisher: Sky Pony
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

A New York Times bestseller that TODAY calls “beautiful” and “stunning!”

This interactive book immerses children in a fun and unique journey. Jump aboard the White Feather Flier, a magical plane that can go wherever you want!

Just press a button printed on the page, and point the plane up in the air to fly, or down to land it!

Fly to the top of a mountain!

Send clean water to thirsty people!

Dive deep into the ocean (the Flier turns into a submarine!) to pick up pollution and bring back the fish!

Explore the planet, meet new people, and help make the world a better place!

The Flier's mission is to transport readers around the world, to engage them in helping to save the environment, and to teach one and all to love our planet.

An inspiring, lyrical story, rooted in Lennon's life and work, Touch the Earth is filled with beautiful illustrations that bring the faraway world closer to young children. The book includes words to a special poem written by Julian Lennon, specifically for Touch the Earth.

This is the first book in a planned trilogy. A portion of the proceeds from book sales will go to support the environmental and humanitarian efforts of the White Feather Foundation, the global environmental and humanitarian organization that Lennon founded to promote education, health, conservation, and the protection of indigenous culture.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is pretty underwhelming.

I've read a number of "interactive" picture books before. Unlike most of the others, this one is about serious topics... and, as such, it kind of feels a bit like lying to kids. The book instructs them to do things like touch the plastic bottles to clean up the oceans and bring back the fish, or drop water purification systems so people can have clean drinking water... and then tells them they did a good job. What? What, exactly, did they do? (Yes, a portion of the proceeds from the book goes to charitable causes, but that's a lot more indirect than telling children that pressing an icon on a page in their book helped irrigate a desert.)

I can see that this is a very personal project for Lennon, and the white feather has great significance to him (this is explained in the author's note at the back). But turning the feather into a gimmick of a plane that magically travels the world and fixes all our environmental woes just seems a little simple and bordering on dishonest. There's such a thing as fantasy, and that's fine. I guess I just don't like how this book implies that kids are having a direct hand in making a difference by sitting in their own homes and swinging a picture book around in the air.

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

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 2 out of 5

Review - Wait!

Wait! (Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! #4)
by Beck & Matt Stanton
Date: 2018
Publisher: ABC Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

From the brilliant brains behind This Is a Ball, Did You Take the B from My _ook? and The Red Book comes a brand-new giggle-inducing bestseller!

For the Grown-Ups:

'Wait! Just wait!' You find yourself saying this all the time, right?

Well, we're sorry, but you're gonna hate this book!

This book is going to make you wait too. Once you and the kids start reading it, you can't do anything else until it's finished.

You'll just have to ... wait.

And the kids will love it!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I figured I might as well finish this series, even though I really didn't like the last book, This Book Is Red, which could also be titled: How to Gaslight Your Kids. Wait! isn't quite as annoying or potentially damaging as This Book Is Red, but I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two books in the series, either.

Here, the premise is that once you start reading this book, you're not allowed to stop until you get to the end. You just have to wait, no matter how bored you are. (I don't know what the consequences for DNFing this one is. It's never specified.) This could be hard enough for kids, but the tables get turned when the adult reader starts to get bored too and wants to go off and do "adult" things (like the dishes). But, wait! They're not allowed to, either. So everybody's miserable together.

The overall idea for these books is okay, although I question whether This Book Is Red should be part of anyone's collection. The other three books aren't too bad, and if kids enjoy the gimmick, then I guess they could be fun reads. I don't know if I'd ever want to read them to kids, though, for fear they might become favourites. Never mind driving kids crazy; these books have the potential to drive adult readers a bit nuts, too.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Review - This Book Is Red

This Book Is Red (Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! #3)
by Beck & Matt Stanton
Date: 2018
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

This clever companion to This Is a Ball and Did You Take the B from My _ook? is the perfect read-aloud for the giggling masses who love Hervé Tullet’s Press Here, Lane Smith’s It’s a Book!, and BJ Novak’s The Book With No Pictures.

The Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! series offers parents, teachers, and storytellers a hilarious script for fun reading time with children. In Book 3, This Book Is Red, something is clearly bonkers when the narrator insists that frogs and penguins are obviously the same color as lobsters–and the claims get more outrageous from there. What is up with this nonsense? Kids will demand to know–and all readers will be howling with laughter all along the way. With strikingly simple text and art, Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! are ideal picks for emergent readers.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I've read the first two books in this series and sort of enjoyed them, but this one really rubbed me the wrong way. If you insist on reading this kiddie gaslighting garbage to your kids, make sure they've had an eye exam first to check for colourblindness. I can only imagine how confusing this book would be for people with the condition.

Instead of seeming silly and fun, this book bordered on abusive for me. Telling kids over and over that green and yellow and purple are actually red, and then breaking out the "I'm the grown-up. What I say goes" crap just gave me shivers. If kids have experienced gaslighting, this could potentially cause upset and confusion. ("They are red because I said so!" Ugh.) Even the play on the words "red" and "read" at the end couldn't save this for me.

I'm not sure why this book bothered me. The first two didn't irk me nearly so much. Maybe the gimmick is getting old. In any case, I can't recommend this one at all.

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

Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall: 1.33 out of 5

Review - Don't Blink!

Don't Blink!
by Amy Krouse Rosenthal
illustrated by David Roberts
Date: 2018
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

This interactive book may seem to be on your side, reluctant sleeper -- but it's truly a bedtime book in disguise! New from New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Amy Krouse Rosenthal and David Roberts!

Here's how it works: if you can avoid getting to the end of this book, you can avoid bedtime, simple as that. (It's a pretty sweet deal, actually.) But each time you blink, you have to turn a page. Those are just the rules. So whatever you do, DON'T BLINK!

From New York Times bestselling author and illustrator Amy Krouse Rosenthal and David Roberts comes a playful, super-duper interactive bedtime story, narrated by a cheeky stuffed owl. Kids love a challenge, and you can bet they'll do their darndest to rise to the one set out in Don't Blink!...especially when bedtime is on the line!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

So-called interactive picture books can be hit-or-miss for me. I've enjoyed some (like Don't Push the Button!), but there have been some others that just fell really flat. This one is kind of in the middle. It's not awful, but there's probably a group of people who shouldn't read the book at all: those with tics.

I've had tics since I was a child. They're very difficult to control. Sometimes, the power of suggestion is enough to set them off (which is one reason I don't like reading about people with conditions like Tourette's Syndrome). This book could be extremely frustrating for children who have a hard enough time controlling what their own body is doing. First they're encouraged to not blink, but at one point they're told to blink rapidly to get it all out (which feels like a dirty trick, but I digress). I can see this causing issues for those with tic disorders.

The book starts out with the promise that if you can make it all the way through without blinking, you don't have to go to bed. Now, as an adult we can see what the point is... but a child might not understand that they're being played. I would've ended up so frustrated trying to suppress my blinks, and ultimately would've felt like a failure for not being able to do so. Tears of frustration at bedtime is probably not the desired outcome.

For kids who don't have a problem with tics, there might be some value in this book. But I still think it could end up being frustrating, especially for little perfectionists. The aim of the book is probably going to be misunderstood by many young children, and it could lead to problems. It sounds like a good idea in theory, but I'm not sure if it would work in practice.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5

Review - Did You Take the B from My _ook?

Did You Take the B from My _ook? (Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! #2)
by Beck & Matt Stanton
Date: 2016
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

From the brilliant brains behind This is a Ball comes a new giggle-inducing bestseller!

OK. Two things you need to know. Firstly, your favourite thing in the whole world is the letter B. And secondly, you're about to sneeze and all the Bs are going to be blown out of the book. So until you can get your favourite letter back, you're about to sound really, really silly ... And the kids will love it!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I think I like this book better than the first one in the series, This Is a Ball. That first one was pretty much dependent upon kids pointing out all the errors (like the alien labelled as a princess and the elephant labelled as a dog). In this book, however, the premise is that the person reading out loud (presumably an adult) sneezes and every instance of the letter B disappears from the book. This leads to some pretty funny-sounding sentences, like when the _eetle wearing the _lue _oots is jumping on the _ed and _ouncing the _all. The fun here comes from the read-out-loud sentences with the missing letters. After the text gets sillier and sillier (culminating with some _ulls joining the _eetle on the _ed), the kids are invited to help get the letter B back into the book by shouting it into being. This is probably not the best _edtime _ook as a result. But it's still fun.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.33 out of 5

Review - This Is a Ball

This Is a Ball (Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! #1)
by Beck & Matt Stanton
Date: 2015
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

For the giggling masses who love Hervé Tullet’s Press Here, BJ Novak’s The Book With No Pictures, and Bill Cotter’s Don’t Push the Button comes an interactive new series!

The Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! series offers parents, teachers, and storytellers a hilarious script for fun reading time together. Book 2, This Is a Ball, is a boldly absurd spin-off of concept books, and an audaciously contrarian invitation for readers to practice deadpan delivery: after all, the picture on the cover clearly shows a cube, not a ball. The page that declares a princess is flying a kite at the beach shows an alien holding a balloon in a city…and on and on. What is WRONG with this silly book? Kids will demand to know–and all readers will be howling with laughter all along the way. With strikingly simple text and art, Books That Drive Kids CRAZY! are ideal picks for emergent readers.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Our library has a whole bunch of books from this series, and I was intrigued enough to pick up the first couple (Goodreads lists this as Book 1; I'm not sure why the synopsis says otherwise).

It's goofy and silly, but it's going to have a fairly limited audience. For the premise to work as intended, the child needs to be either fairly precocious or a bit older. They need to have a good grasp of the English language, or it could cause confusion. They can't be colourblind. Some autistic kids (or any kids who take things really literally) are probably going to have a tough time with this one, and it may end up being more frustrating than entertaining. For the full effect, I think kids need to be able to get the joke.

Reading it as an adult, I enjoyed it somewhat. I think I probably would've thought it was funny when I was a little kid. Whether this is a hit or a miss is going to depend largely upon the audience. I guess parents won't really know if it'll work with their kids unless they give it a try.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 3/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5

Review - Don't Push the Button!: A Christmas Adventure

Don't Push the Button!: A Christmas Adventure
by Bill Cotter
Date: 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 22
Format: e-book
Source: library

A holiday companion to Don't Push the Button!

It's almost Christmas and Santa is coming, so whatever you do-DON'T PUSH THE BUTTON!!

Well, maybe just once can't hurt...uh oh!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This very simple book is exactly what the synopsis claims it to be: a holiday companion to Don't Push the Button! The premise is exactly the same, with Larry the monster asking kids to push the big red button... with varying results.

Of course, being a Christmas book, the changes that happen on the pages have a holiday theme. There are Christmas colours, candy-cane stripes, snow, elves... and a visit from Santa himself. And Santa has an important request for the reader...

I can't say that I love these books, and I do question how many times kids are going to go along with the shtick before the novelty wears off, but this one is still fun. Larry is endearing, and the interactive nature of these books ensures that kids will pay attention... at least once.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.83 out of 5

Review - Only You Can Save Christmas!

Only You Can Save Christmas!
by Adam Wallace
illustrated by Garth Bruner
Date: 2017
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: library

It's Christmas Eve, and Santa needs YOUR help in this fun, interactive picture book from the New York Times bestselling author of How to Catch an Elf!

It's Christmas Eve, and everything at the North Pole is going according to plan...until an elf discovers that Santa doesn't have a present ready for Mrs. Claus! Time is running out, and you're the only one who can help. But you'll have to honk, whistle, wiggle, and shake to make things turn out all right.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book has a similar premise to Bill Cotter's Don't Push the Button! series. But, in this case, the main character is a rather stupid elf who's obviously never heard the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" and mistakes it for Santa's shopping list for his wife. That's only the beginning of the flawed premise. There's a big rush to collect all the presents because Santa's sleigh is leaving in fifteen minutes. Now, wait a minute; why do presents for Mrs. Claus need to be on Santa's sleigh in the first place? Doesn't she live at the North Pole with Santa? So he's just going to haul those gifts all over the world for no reason?

Some of the pictures are cute (I got a kick out of the calling--sorry, texting birds), but others are a bit disturbing. When Wink the elf couldn't find turtle doves, he found turtles instead, and rode them back to the sleigh while standing on their backs. They were both wearing metal collars with ropes, and one had its tongue hanging out like it was choking. I have no idea what that was doing in a children's book.

Finding the French hens, however, was what really turned me off. Wink tells us that "wee" means "yes" in French, so he asks kids to shout "wee wee wee wee wee wee" to find some French hens. I get that this is phonetic, but it's going to be insulting to French speakers to have that word equated with pee. (Plus, it basically makes the book suitable only for American children. French is widely spoken around the world, including here in Canada. I can tell you that if we, as kids, came across a book that told us that "wee" means "yes", we would've been the first to call it out. Use the correct spelling, or find a different way to find the French hens, please.)

Immediately after this, I read Don't Push the Button!: A Christmas Adventure, and while that story is much simpler, I thought it was the better of the two books (especially if you're already a fan of the Don't Push the Button! series). I'd recommend giving Only You Can Save Christmas! a pass.

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

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.67 out of 5

Review - Don't Touch This Book!

Don't Touch This Book!
by Bill Cotter
Date: 2016
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Larry the lovable monster from Don't Push the Button! is back with another hilarious, interactive adventure!

I know what you're thinking: this is a pretty cool-looking book. But...

DON'T TOUCH THIS BOOK! (Don't even try it, bub.)

Okay, okay. You can touch, but you can only use ONE finger.

Whoa. How'd you do that?

Larry is a loveable monster, but he has trouble sharing. It's up to you to show him how it's done!

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I just read this book, along with Don't Push the Button!, and this is the stronger of the two. While the other book simply had kids pressing the button on the page, this book is a lot more interactive, getting readers to stroke the pages, stand up and twirl around, flap their arms, and just generally have a great time "controlling" what happens next.

Larry the purple monster is back, this time with his own book (which is cleverly displayed within the book itself; I liked the page where he was holding open the book, which showed a picture of him holding open the book, which showed a picture of him holding open the book, etc.). He has readers touch the pages to create colour, make rainbows, and swirl them into shapes; he has readers make robot noises, which turns him into a robot; he has readers roar like a dinosaur, which... well, I'm sure you can guess.

This book is a lot more varied than Don't Push the Button! and therefore a lot more fun. The gimmick might get old after a few reads, but it'll be amusing for the first few times (your mileage may vary, of course).

Quotable moment:

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

Enjoyment: 4/5

Overall: 3.67 out of 5

Review - Don't Push the Button!

Don't Push the Button!
by Bill Cotter
Date: 2013
Publisher: Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

There’s only one rule in Larry’s book: don’t push the button.

(Seriously, don’t even think about it!)

It does look kind of nice though…Okay, quick. No one is looking. — push the button.

Uh, oh.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I got Don't Push the Button! and Don't Touch This Book! from the library at the same time, and I just read both in quick succession. I have to say, I think that this one is the weaker of the two, despite being the book that started it all.

We meet Larry, a purple monster, who introduces himself and shows us the button, which we're not supposed to push. We're not given a reason why. We're just told that we shouldn't. And what happens when someone tells you not to do something (especially when they don't give you a good reason)? You just want to do it more.

The rest of the book shows us the results of pushing that button. It's a cute gimmick, but I thought the execution was a bit weak... especially once I read Don't Touch This Book!

This is cute enough, but if I were to give it as a gift, I'd probably want to give it along with Don't Touch This Book! Reading the two books together would make for a fun storytime for kids.

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

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.17 out of 5