Johnny Big Ears: The Feel Good Friend [Paperback]

John Paul Padilla (Author)

Book Description

PLEASE NOTE: This is an old book edition, please DON'T BUY THIS ONE but the NEW AUTHOR EDITION BOOK VERSION, thats shows a white cover, with a curly, haired boy sticking out!! THANKS..... John Paul Padilla

Editorial Reviews

Review

Book teaches children that it is OK to be different. Many children being bullied that it is wonderful to see a book so-well-written for them. This book is a must for public, school & church libraries. If your child is one that is being bullied, I highly recommend that you purchase this book for your home library. By Joy H. for Readers Favorite --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

About the Author

PLEASE NOTE: This is an old book edition, please DON'T BUY THIS ONE but the NEW  AUTHOR EDITION BOOK VERSION, thats shows a white cover, with a curly, haired boy sticking out!! THANKS..... John Paul Padilla

Product Details

• Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc. (May 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805974962
• ISBN-13: 978-0805974966
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,265,285 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

John Paul Padilla was born in December 11, in Los Angeles, California. He was raised in several cities within the state, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and is currently residing in the Central Valley of California. He went to several schools throughout California and graduated from Turlock High School. Upon graduating, he continued his schooling at Cal State Stanislaus University with the intent of becoming an elementary school teacher to teach third graders! He currently works as an office administrator. He is active in the International Who's Who in Poetry and is a Distinguished Member of the International Society of Poets. John has modeled, has been dancing for the past fourteen years, and has written and recorded songs for Nashville artists years ago. He has previously published Wings to Cross an Ocean, an inspirational poetry book that encourages personal growth and happiness. John Paul was inspired to write Johnny Big Ears, the Feel Good Friend based on his own childhood experiences with teasing and his time spent observing students while he was a teacher's aide in an elementary school.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars WONDEFUL BOOK FOR CHILDREN, PARENTS AND TEACHERS, September 25, 2008

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Johnny Big Ears: The Feel Good Friend (Paperback)

Johnny Big Ears, The Feel-Good Friend by John Paul Padilla is a well crafted little book with big lessons to teach. I have been working with children for years in our public and private schools, and am well aware that we have a major problem with children being bullied. Kids, when you take them one on one, are pretty nice little critters to be around. Most of them are bright, friendly, funny and a pure joy. But human nature, being what it is, and kids being kids, when they get together in groups all the "niceness" suddenly flies out the window. Children can be and are cruel. They have a sort of pack mentality about them. they have the ability to turn on a given child in a second if the perceive I have seen this manifested over and over again. Now this is nothing new. I suspect it has been going on since the beginning. I know that when I was of Kindergarten age, which was many, many years ago, it existed then.

This little story sheds some light on this problem. It addresses coping skills which children need. The day of "play ground justice" are over (I have mixed feelings about that), and children can no longer fight their way out of bad situations. Johnny Big Ears is one of those children who are just a bit different. In his case he has, you guessed it, big ears. Needless to say, the first day at school, he encounters the typical attitude we so often see. He is different and some of the kids are quick to point this out and are quick to start pecking at him. Johnny handles this situation wonderfully.

I think on of the key messages the author is stressing here, is that a child that has a strong, loving and supportive family is much more likely to handle these situations than those that do not. If the child feels good about them selves, is loved, is respected, and is encouraged at home, then he or she will be much more prepared to face the reality of the sometimes cruel world.

I feel this little book will be very useful in the class room. I feel that it is a book that parents should read with their children as it hints at giving the parents the tools to help their children prepare. The book is well written, well illustrated and well prepared. I do recommend this one for both the class room and the home. My only objections and concern is that I do wish it had been physically larger. This is a very nice book to read to the class, but unless the book is a bit bigger than this one, it is difficult to read to groups. Overall though, I recommend this one highly.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Self- Acceptance is the First Step, September 27, 2008

By 

Bryan Carey "Bryan Carey" (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Johnny Big Ears: The Feel Good Friend (Paperback)

Johnny Big Ears is a book with a message- a message about looking different from others and accepting yourself for what you are. This is not an uncommon theme in children's books and it is an important one to stress because it can have a definite impact on the lives of young people. When a child looks unusual in some way, teasing is likely to result and some kids end up rebellious or in a state of depression that takes many years to overcome.

Johnny Big Ears is certainly a book that many can relate to and the way the book is written is a little different from what I expected. I assumed it would be similar to other books with this theme. I expected the main character to be very sad and rejected; wondering around aimlessly until pulling himself together for a happy ending. But Johnny Big Ears isn't like that. He is optimistic all the way through the book and he is very confident that he is a good person with much to offer. Yes, he is concerned that he will have to tolerate some teasing at school, but he doesn't let this hold him back. He is very excited about his first day at kindergarten and even though he does put up with some teasing, he is still anxious to return to school the next day.

The writing in Johnny Big Ears is also a little different. The book is supposedly aimed at the four to eight age group, but four years old might be pushing it. The dialogue consists of full paragraphs and it will probably be more than younger children will find acceptable because they won't be able to keep their attention on the book. The writing is good and the editing is well done, but the story line, while certainly something that younger children can relate to and can learn from, is perhaps a little too advanced for children at the lower end of the recommended age range.

One thing I wasn't too thrilled about with this book is the illustrations. Not only are they a little too plain and simple, but the appearances of the characters doesn't coincide with their descriptions. The most glaring example is the age of the children in the illustrations. They are supposed to be five year- olds entering kindergarten, but the children look much more mature than that and if I didn't know, I would guess the kids were in fourth or fifth grade. The other thing I didn't like was the placement of the illustrations. The book is twenty- five pages in length and for most of the pages, there is an illustration on the left page and dialogue on the right side page. But this isn't consistent. There are eight pages that don't contain any illustrations at all. I would have looked much better if this alternating pattern was consistent all the way through.

Taken as a whole, however, Johnny Big Ears is a decent enough book and it does have a positive message. It reads like a short story due to its full paragraphs, making it different from the average children's book. The illustrations could have been better also, but I still like the book enough to give it a recommendation. The message of acceptance is strong, and the main character is optimistic and proud no matter what happens, sending a positive message to young readers who have similar personal issues.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars COLORFUL, MOTIVATING BOOK FOR ALL KIDS, October 22, 2011

By 

D. Perez "Book reader/reviewer" (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Johnny Big-Ears, the Feel-Good Friend (Paperback)

I have two boys in elementary school, and one is a little on the heavier side. My 7 year old has been called so many names that he would come home crying and not wanting to go to school and then I heard about this book from a popular magazine, where a child therapist highly recommended this book to motivate kids to feel secure and confident. I read it to my two kids and asked them the questions found at the end of the book and he understood the message and made him feel he was not alone. It helped me realize kids of all ages and sizes can be teased at any given time. If anyone has kids who are shy, are being teased or bullyied.. I would highly recommend this book, it has lots of colorful drawings, great inspirational story and kid can identify and a questionaire for parents to ask the kids what is teasing and bullying. I wished they had this book around when I was a boy myself. I too had weight issues as a kid and kids sure can be mean. Times change but kids do get meaner it seems and having a great book like this sure can help parents to issue this problem at home.