Review - My Butt Is SO SILLY!

My Butt Is SO SILLY!
by Dawn McMillan
illustrated by Ross Kinnaird
Date: 2022
Publisher: Dover Publications
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Everyone's favorite character from I Need a New Butt!, I Broke My Butt!, and My Butt is So Noisy! is back in a hilarious new story about a silly butt that won't stop moving! The talented duo of children's author Dawn McMillan and illustrator Ross Kinnaird have created another delightful, laugh-out-loud tale of a bothersome backside that leads to all kinds of amusing adventures. The fun never stops, from the first page to the last of this newest book in the best-selling series.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I think there's only so far you can take a joke. That distance might be a little greater if you're a kid that likes talking about butts.

I read I Broke My Butt! a couple of years ago, and while I didn't love it, I thought it was pretty silly and kids would likely enjoy it. My Butt Is SO SILLY! has the same problem as I Broke My Butt! (namely, the horribly executed metre of the rhyming text), and also introduces a level of absurdity that doesn't even make sense. How did the kid's butt end up square?!

As far as I can tell, this butt has a mind of its own. It never stops moving. At times, it made me uncomfortable, because it almost seemed like the kid had a disorder like dystonia, and making fun of medical conditions isn't funny.

Fans of the other books will probably like this one, too. But, as an adult reader, I wasn't that impressed. I liked I Broke My Butt! a lot more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dover Publications for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.29 out of 5

Review - I Broke My Butt!

I Broke My Butt!
by Dawn McMillan
illustrated by Ross Kinnaird
Date: 2019
Publisher: Dover Publications
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

The inventive young hero from the bestselling I Need a New Butt! is back and this time he has accidentally glued a serving tray to his behind — and he's tickled pink! See, it's great for sliding down hills, surfing big waves, and other booty-full fun and games. Now all his friends want one too! Another cracked farce from the cheeky team of Dawn McMillan and Ross Kinnaird.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is apparently the second book about this cheeky (sorry) kid. I haven't read the first one, but this seems to stand well enough on its own.

In somewhat clunky rhyme, the narrator tells us his tale of woe. He's fallen and broken his butt. I mean, it's shattered in pieces. When he takes off his pants, those pieces go tumbling onto the floor. So what does he do? He glues them back together. Unfortunately, when he goes to glue his butt back on, the tray he was using as a work surface becomes adhered to him as well. But he soon finds a way to make the best of things, even eventually deciding that having a tray glued to your butt has more benefits than drawbacks.

I have to admit, I cracked (sorry) a few smiles while reading this. It's not fancy literature, and the narrative gets kind of weak toward the end. But young kids will probably gobble this up and be glued to their seats during storytime. It's fun for a few laughs.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dover Publications for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3 out of 5

Review - Seagull Sid: and the Naughty Things His Seagulls Did

Seagull Sid: and the Naughty Things His Seagulls Did
by Dawn McMillan
illustrated by Ross Kinnaird
Date: 2012
Publisher: Dover Publications
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Seagull Sid and his fine feathered mates are sick of looking at all the rubbish that people leave behind at the shore. But how can the seagulls reclaim their beach from the trashy humans? No worries, Sid has a mischievously messy plan of attack — watch out below!

Rollicking rhymes and delightful drawings highlight this tale by the bestselling team of storyteller Dawn McMillan and illustrator Ross Kinnaird, the cheeky creators of I Need a New Butt! and Doctor Grundy's Undies.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I don't know who thought this disgusting story was a good idea. I may be biased because I've been pooped on by these flying rats, and I wasn't doing anything to deserve it (I was just minding my own business, trying to eat my lunch in the school courtyard... and a seagull decided to splatter diarrhea all over me).

This book, written in terribly clunky rhyme, is about Sid and his seagull friends who are tired of the humans making a mess of the beach, so they decide to chase them away. First of all, this premise makes no sense, unless the seagulls are really, really stupid (spoiler alert: they are). Where are these scavengers going to get all their treats if they deter humans from coming to the beach? That wasn't thought out very well. Especially since the book shows the seagulls feasting on the abandoned picnics. Short term gain? What happens if the humans decide not to come back to the poop-strewn beach?

Because, see, that's the thing about this book. It's appallingly disgusting. Yes, the humans leaving trash everywhere is gross... but so is the seagulls' solution. They poop on everything. They poop on the people. Then they start pooping on the food. Um... don't crap where you eat? I guess they've never heard that saying because, at the end, they all sit down to a poop-covered feast! (That sound you hear is me gagging.)

And, as if the subject matter wasn't gross enough, the book had to go and get sexist with Freda:

And then there was Freda
with potential as leader,
but they didn't need her...

So why the heck are you bringing her up?! Sid is shown as the leader of the seagulls, so why bring up Freda at all? Just to point out that one of the few female characters in this book is unneeded?

About the only thing I liked in this book was the one-legged seagull with his eye patch. The rest of the illustrations are forgettable, and weirdly gender binary. (Apparently, it's important that we know which seagulls are female, so they're drawn wearing jewellery; Freda even has a fancy hairstyle.)

After all that, the seagulls didn't even do anything about their original problem, which was the dirty beach. They chased away the only creatures actually capable of cleaning up the mess. I'm not sure what the message of this book is supposed to be, other than threatening kids with having a seagull poop on them if they litter. Really, though, seagulls could do that anyway, for no real reason.

Sorry... but I don't get it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dover Publications for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 0/5

Overall: 1.43 out of 5