Review - Windblown

Windblown
by Édouard Manceau
Date: 2011
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: library

Where did all these pieces of paper come from? Who do they belong to?

The chicken is sure that they belong to him, but so is the fish, and so is the bird, and the snail and the frog… Using the same small scraps of paper over and over again to create a new animal on each page, Édouard Manceau has created a timeless cumulative tale that will delight and enchant children as they try to figure out just who the pieces of paper do belong to…

(synopsis from Goodreads)

That was unimpressive.

Windblown is a cumulative tale in which animals try to take credit for pieces of paper that were found lying around. I'm sorry, but I just don't get it. The book lost me when the fish claimed it cut out the pieces. (Fish can use scissors?!)

Sure, there are activity sheets that can be downloaded so kids can cut out and play with the shapes, but... so what? The shapes aren't particularly interesting. After a few minutes of playing with these bland shapes, kids will probably lose interest.

I guess this might be okay if you're specifically looking for cumulative tales, but otherwise, there's not much of value here.

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

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 2 out of 5