Customer Reviews

Finding Nemo: A Read-Aloud Storybook

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

 

 

Saw it on the bookshelf, grabbed it to buy it for my son who really liked the movie, opened it, returned it to the shelf. You don't buy a book like that for the story -- you buy it for the story and the pictures -- it's a book for younger children after all -- and you hope that the pictures will bring back the fond memories of seeing the story on big screen. But this book is so modestly illustrated that it seems totally unrelated to the film. Even the characters look different. All excitement and all that underwater magic are gone. 'Toy Story' -- from the same series of Disney books -- is illustrated much better.

Received this book as a gift for our 4-year old son. He hasn't seen the movie (maybe that makes a difference?), but he loves the pictures and the character. Our friend thought she was buying a quality product from Disney, and so did we, until we tried to read it. I am so disappointed! The movie may be better, but this book gives the impression that a couple of people spent half a weekend pasting together a few shots from the movie, then wrote a little descriptive text and called it a day. There are 2 major faults: 1) several scenes from the movie were obviously just described in the book. They make no sense within the plot, they are literally BORING, though the animated scene may have been appropriate. They are too short to build up any sort of suspense, climax, etc.. An example is the jellyfish scene. 2) The story jumps around, from scene to scene. This distracts and confuses my 4-year old, who is used to logical sequences, a beginning, middle and end in his other books. Sorry, Disney, this book is a loser...

Big disappointment. The illustrations are very poor. Nothing like the computer animated graphics in the movie. The characters look like the impressionists version of those in the movie. Bruce the shark is practically unrecognizable, neither is Nemo or Dory. The story is ok, too complicated for a younger child to follow.

I am glad we got this book from a library because now we can give it back. It doesn't make sense. I think they assume that anyone reading the book has seen the movie and can fill in the blanks. But something called a storybook should have a full story.

It starts with a mommy and daddy fish running into a barracuda. On the next page there is only a daddy fish. Obviously, we are supposed to infer that the mommy has been eaten. I guess they thought that saying so would traumatize preschoolers, but you cannot imply things to a preschooler, they won't get it. My four-year-old had no idea what happened. "Where's the mommy fish? Why doesn't it say what happened to the mommy fish?"

It skips back and forth and changes scenes a lot. I have not seen the movie, but I can only guess that they are trying to include references to the best parts, possibly the musical numbers, more than they are trying to follow the plot. Also, the daddy fish is later attacked by sharks then the sharks show up at the end like they're all pals and I have no idea what happened there.

If you're looking for an exact copy of the film, this book is not for you. If you're interested in a folk-art/classic Golden book inspired piece of art this book is definitely for you. Contrary to what a couple of reviewers refer to as substandard illustrations, this book was illustrated by an experienced artist with a great understanding of animation and it saddens me that the Disney company does not give the artist the credit he or she deserves. Like most Disney books, the credit goes to the Disney company not the individual that did the work. My two-year old daughter absolutely loves the movie and she equally enjoys this book. Sure, its a quick read, but we usually read through it a few times in each sitting before we move onto another book. The only complaint I have about this book is it's length. I really would have liked more pages to flip through... just for the artwork.
If you want an exact copy of the film, watch the film. Don't look for it in a book. If you want a simple book to read to your young one and appreciate a nicely illustrated book, give this one a chance. It deserves it.

My 4 year old granddaughter loves looking at this book since she really likes the movie.