Customer Reviews

Delilah D. at the Library

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a charming, wittty book - my husband and I love reading it as much as our daughter loves us to read it to her! FUNNY! And smart. Wish there were a whole series about Delilah D!

The media specialist with whom I work is an expert with character voices and oh my, does Delilah D. At The Library come alive when the book characters are given voices which convey the differences between Delilah and the Librarian. I have heard this book at least fifteen times over the last two years and continue to find it as funny as the students to whom it is being read. Delilah's exaggerated imagination allows for her less than perfect behavior in the library. However, Library Anne (ha-librarian) will have none of it. Between Delilah climbing the shelves and reading upside-down (doesn't everyone?) and Library Anne attempting to teach Delilah proper behavior in the library this colorfully illustrated picture book will make children and adults chuckle. This is a terrific book and I highly recommend its use in elementary school libraries.

Delilah is a little girl with a big imagination. She likes to pretend that she is from a far away land. Too bad the adults in her life won't play her game. She goes to the library and has to learn all the rules. She claims that the rules are very different where she comes from!

The cover drew us in. The little girl is sitting at the library on the floor looking at a book with her shoes off! What's not to love!

It would make a great story time tale to go over some library rules with young patrons!

Delilah D. believes that she comes from a special land where cupcakes are served in libraries and beautiful princesses read you stories. So far, so good. But when Delilah goes to the library chaos ensues. I found almost all the characters in the story to be unlikable. True, Delilah has a wonderful imagination but she behaves atrociously in public. At the library she shouts, runs, climbs on books, and sings at the top of her lungs. Where, you may ask, is her guardian this whole time? Gigi, her babysitter, leaves Delilah to her own devices while she surfs the Web. Gigi is completely oblivious to Delilah's antics, leaving the librarian to anxiously hover around her little patron. Even the librarian isn't portrayed in a positive light. While she does help Delilah find the books she wants and helps her reach them some of the things she says harken back to the strict librarian stereotypes: "Well, run along and find a nice book," Library Anne says when Delilah tries to tell her about the land she comes from. "There are much more sensible ways of reaching books," Anne continues, when Delilah tells her about a library where you reach books via trapeze.

The only pleasant thing about this book are the wonderful illustrations which are colorful and imaginative.

I thought she was too much of a brat, personally. I can think of a lot of children's book characters that I'd rather spend my time with. (Axton)