Review - Flying with Kindness

Flying with Kindness
by Eric Simmons
illustrated by Blueberry Illustrations
Date: 2019
Publisher: BooksGoSocial
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 28
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

This is a great read aloud for parents needing to help their children learn to get along and share.

This book is especially for young toddlers and written for ages 2-8 years old. Your child will want you to read this over and over again.

"Flying With Kindness offers children a valuable lesson in kind-heartedness and shows how one act of kindness can lead to another, and the positive effect on the recipient. It's a beautiful, yet simply written story with eye-catching illustrations and, in a rare feat, the author has conveyed the overarching message in an entertaining but non-preachy manner. In a world much in need of a little compassion and understanding, this children's book is a breath of fresh air." – Scott Medbury, Author of the America Falls Series, and father of four.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Normally, I wouldn't review an incomplete manuscript like this. But this is what NetGalley is sending out, so it's what I'm going to base my opinion on. If you send me a picture-book e-galley with no illustrations, don't be surprised to lose a few stars.

Flying with Kindness is an ultra-preachy, poorly written story about a child who goes on an airplane, loses his teddy bear, and learns about karma (or something). There are shifts in verb tense, stilted dialogue, unattributed speech, and things that don't make a lot of sense (if the old lady was on their flight to the Grand Canyon, why would she feel the need to exchange contact information with the family so they could send her a postcard?).

The illustrations might be fine, but I have no idea. All I got from NetGalley was a 4-page document with the book's text.

I doubt even the best illustrations could save this one for me, though. The message is not subtle, and the children don't come across as real children (they're more like idealized child characters created to ram a message down readers' throats).

I'm afraid this one is a bit of a miss for me. If you do want to check it out, at least try to get a copy with the illustrations included.

Thank you to NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 1/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 2/5
Illustrations: 0/5
Originality: 1/5

Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall: 0.67 out of 5