Review - Slow Moe

Slow Moe
by Deborah Kerbel
illustrated by Marianne Ferrer
Date: 2020
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Life moves oh-so-slow when your little brother is a snail. It takes forever to do anything! Really, it's enough to test the patience of even the most understanding big sister. But is Moe just slow or is there something else going on? With charming illustrations by Marianne Ferrer, award-winning author Deborah Kerbel has written a delightful story about love, support and the struggle for tolerance within the often tumultuous sibling relationship.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I guess this book has an audience, but it just rubbed me the wrong way. It's basically about a kid who manipulates the adults around him, and the older sister who enables the behaviour (even though it bothers her, too).

Moe is so slow that his sister views him as a snail. But he's actually only a snail when he's being asked to do things he doesn't want to do. Otherwise, he's a fast kid. The girl thinks her parents haven't noticed that he's actually a kid. She decides to keep the secret because she loves him.

I don't like the message here. Not that the girl should be tattling on her brother or anything, but enabling his disobedience and passive-aggressive behaviour doesn't seem like a healthy thing to do, either.

The pictures are okay. The colour palette is a bit muted, with lots of greens, golds, and browns. They work well enough, but I didn't find them particularly interesting.

This could've been really funny if the message had been tweaked. As it is, though, it made me a bit uncomfortable.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orca Book Publishers for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5