Review - Aaron Loves Apples and Pumpkins

Aaron Loves Apples and Pumpkins
by P. D. Eastman
Date: 2015
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

It’s autumn in this Step 1 Step into Reading early reader by P. D. Eastman, author of Go, Dog. Go! and Are You My Mother? As Aaron the Alligator’s thoughts turn to apples, pumpkins, football, and... ghosts, his usual mishaps occur while playing outdoors with his friends. Young readers will giggle along as they tackle the simple words and sentences all on their own. Aaron the Alligator is also a star of The Cat in the Hat Beginner Book Dictionary and a long out-of-print series called Everything Happens to Aaron, the basis for this book. Look for more of Aaron’s Step into Reading escapades: Aaron Is a Good Sport, Aaron Has a Lazy Day, and Aaron Is Cool.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This book is very much like Go, Dog. Go!, except that it follows one character. It's very much a beginning-reader book; there's really no story, and it's obvious that the book is meant for kids who are just learning to read words on their own. The repeating pictures seem a bit lazy to me... but the author did manage to write a book almost 30 years after his own death, so I guess I can cut him a bit of slack.

All in all, I'm not too impressed. This is just using a character as a vehicle for a very basic early reader. There's no plot, and the situations depicted only last for a few pages each (and, like I said, some of the pictures repeat, so there's really not a lot to this book).

Skip it, unless you really love Aaron the Alligator.

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

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 1.83 out of 5