Review - Sir Tim Has a Secret

Sir Tim Has a Secret
by Judith Koppens
illustrated by Eline van Lindenhuizen
Date: 2020
Publisher: Clavis Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Real knights are always honest. But when Sir Tim accidentally rips his cape, he tries to blame his friend Max. And when Mom leaves a strawberry shortcake on the table, he sneaks a bite. Keeping all these secrets begins to give Sir Tim a bellyache...

A sweet and recognizable book about keeping secrets. For honest knights ages 4 and up.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This is the second Sir Tim book I've read. I'm still not impressed.

The premise of this one is okay, but the writing is all over the place. You cannot nod your words! And having Sir Tim think things out loud is just silly. (Use the word "said" and be done with it.)

The kids' playground gave me the willies. (Sharp nails sticking out of the play structure to snag kids' clothing as they're going down the slide? Sounds like a recipe for a lawsuit.) The story is relatable, with Tim getting carried away with his lies--only to be given away by his dirty cheeks. But I think the text itself needs more work.

Overall, I don't think I'd recommend this. I prefer to see stronger writing in picture books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

Premise: 3/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 1/5
Illustrations: 2/5
Originality: 2/5

Enjoyment: 1/5

Overall: 2 out of 5

Review - Plastic Soup

Plastic Soup
by Judith Koppens & Andy Engel
illustrated by Nynke Mare Talsma
Date: 2020
Publisher: Clavis Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

The animal friends are spending the day at the beach. Frog jumps in the water and comes up with a torn plastic bag on his head. Fox thinks Frog looks like a sea monster! But the plastic bag isn’t the only thing that floats in the water. Why is there so much plastic in the sea?

A simple story to introduce children to water pollution and little changes that can make a big difference. For children ages 5 and up.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

Reading this book right now is kind of depressing. It's a story about a group of friends who go to the beach and find a lot of plastic floating in the water. The moral of the story is to avoid using plastic, reuse it if you can't, and choose less wasteful options.

At the moment, though, all of that has gone out the window. Everyone's so afraid of a virus that plastic use has soared, wiping out all the progress we might have made in that area. Reusable bags are banned at the grocery store; you have to get a new one every time. For this reason, I wouldn't recommend this book right now. It's liable to be confusing to kids, who are going to get one message from the book and the opposite message from the world.

Aside from that, it's not a bad story. The illustrations are okay. The translation is a little clunky, though, and the layout of the words on the page makes it difficult to tell who's speaking at times. (There's also a character nodding their speech, so I took points off for that.)

Overall, this is a decent book... but not one that's suitable for the current moment.

Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.5 out of 5

Review - Mila Has Two Beds

Mila Has Two Beds
by Judith Koppens
illustrated by Anouk Nys
Date: 2020
Publisher: Clavis Publishing
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 24
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Mila has two homes: some days she lives with Mommy and some days she lives with Daddy. Today she is going to her mommy’s house. Everything is a little different at Mommy’s than at Daddy’s. But Mommy and Daddy both think Mila is the sweetest girl in the whole world.

A warm and simple story about a girl whose parents are divorced. For toddlers ages 30 months and up, with a focus on the child’s daily life.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

I found this book a bit exhausting. I realize that this may be the reality for some children, but the thought of essentially moving every two days just makes me tired. Do these selfish parents really think all that upheaval is good for their kid?

Mila's parents are divorced, so she spends two days with her father and then two days with her mother, switching back and forth. She has two beds and two toothbrushes, a dog at one house, a cat at the other, and two parents who love her (but who obviously can't stand each other).

There's really no story. The sole purpose, I suppose, is to make children of divorce feel like they're not alone. But this custody arrangement is like nothing I've ever seen. I wonder what these parents' jobs are that they're both able to be stay-at-home parents for two days every two days...

I'm not enamoured with the illustrations. They're very simple, and the perspective is off in some (there's a picture of Mila at the sink and her toothbrush cup is just sort of hovering on the edge; it looks completely unnatural). The typeface is also not the easiest to read, either. (This is the second picture book I've read in as many days that's had this issue. What's wrong with a clear serif?)

Overall, I'm not that impressed. It's probably fine for children of divorce, but I'd be concerned that it sort of glorifies joint custody for kids who aren't in that situation. Who wouldn't want to have two rooms, two pets, and a parent's undivided attention no matter where you go?

Thank you to NetGalley and Clavis Publishing for providing a digital ARC.

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5

Review - Sir Tim Is a Little Jealous

Sir Tim Is a Little Jealous
by Judith Koppens
illustrated by Eline van Lindenhuizen
Date: 2019
Publisher: Clavis
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 32
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Sir Tim and Sara go to the park together. Sara spends time playing with her friend Max. How does that make Tim feel?

A sweet and recognizable story about being a little jealous. For friends and knights ages 4 years and up.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

The premise of this book is decent, but the way the topic is ultimately handled didn't impress me.

When Sir Tim goes to the park with his friend Sara, he ends up jealous and engages in attention-seeking behaviours that escalate to the point of peril. The moral of the story seems to be to put your life in danger to get your friends to pay attention to you (at least, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the takeaway for some readers).

Yes, Sir Tim is jealous. But that's his own fault. At the very beginning, when they arrive at the playground, Sara actually says: "There's Max. Let's go and play with him!" Now, to me, that sounds like an invitation. Sara's not leaving Sir Tim out of anything. She didn't say: "There's Max. I'm going to go play with him!" But you could be forgiven for thinking otherwise, the way Sir Tim interprets it. His stomach starts to feel funny and he begins to try to draw Sara's attention away from Max. She doesn't seem to notice his attempts (although she does wave at him at one point, so she's not intentionally snubbing him). Eventually, Sir Tim decides to climb a tree. When the branch breaks and he falls, Sara comes running over and asks if he's hurt. He confesses that he thinks she doesn't like him anymore, and she tells him that he's silly (he is) and that just because she plays with other kids sometimes doesn't mean they're not still best friends. Then she tells him that the next time they come to the playground, they can all play together (which seems unnecessary, because she basically invited him to play with her and Max at the beginning).

All of this seems to add up to a little kid who feels like he should be able to own his friends. The fact that Sir Tim is a boy and Sara is a girl makes it even worse. If Sir Tim doesn't get a handle on this little problem, it's going to turn into a great big one later on. I can just see him turning out to be one of those guys who throws a tantrum if his girlfriend so much as looks at another guy.

The knight bit is cute (Sir Tim always wears his helmet and his dog's name is Dragon), but that's not enough to save this one for me. Sir Tim didn't learn enough of a lesson about jealousy. And since that's what this book is all about, it kind of fails.

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

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.33 out of 5

Review - A Kiss for Giraffe

A Kiss for Giraffe
by Judith Koppens
illustrated by Suzanne Diederen
Date: 2017
Publisher: Clavis
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 40
Format: e-book
Source: NetGalley

Written by Judith Koppens and illustrated by Suzanne Diederen!

Giraffe and Piggy are best friends. Piggy wants to give Giraffe a kiss, but Giraffe is too tall. What will Piggy do?

An endearing and simple story about friendship. For toddlers ages 30 months and up, with a focus on the child’s emotions.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

This could've been a good story about consent... had it gone far enough.

Piggy wants to give Giraffe a kiss. We don't know how Giraffe feels about this, so it's kind of unsettling to watch Piggy try various methods to level their heights so that he can lay a smooch on his friend (the first thing he tried was eerily reminiscent of the way stonings are carried out; he dug a hole and got Giraffe to stand in it so he could reach). Eventually, his attempt at using a ladder fails, and he falls. Giraffe then bends down and gives Piggy a kiss and Piggy says, "Now why didn't I think of that?" Maybe because he was so busy trying to kiss his friend without permission that he didn't think to ask!

This was a missed opportunity. At no point did Piggy say to Giraffe, "May I kiss you?" or "Would you like a kiss?" (If he had, the book would've been very short.) It was uncomfortable to watch this pig running around thinking of ways to kiss his tall friend; it had me thinking that maybe Giraffe just didn't want to be kissed at that moment, since he/she was staying well out of kissing range!

The pictures aren't that memorable (except for the creepy one of the giraffe in the hole) and I wasn't impressed with the story. I'd recommend giving this one a pass. Just because kids feel like kissing someone doesn't mean they should act on it... especially without permission.

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

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

Enjoyment: 2/5

Overall: 2.17 out of 5