Customer Reviews

Julius's Candy Corn

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

 

 

My children love Kevin Henkes's books. This is a funny story about Julius and how he counts cupcakes and eats all the candy corn. Sweet but not sticky.

Loved the book- got it on time! I teach and my kids loved it! Fast Shipment!

Once again Kevin Henkes has written a book to tickle a toddler's funny bone! Any child can surely relate to the temptation of a tasty treat that can be looked at but not touched, and Julius' solution is surprising yet clever. Yes he was a bit naughty, but he really DIDN'T disobey his mum and no harm was done. Any parent who has had a sweet yet mischievous child will appreciate this book and little ones will love the story and pictures. Who can resist cupcakes and a party?

My 3 year old has Lilly's purple plastic purse and it is one of our favorite bedtime stories so I purchased Julius's candy corn and Owen's Marshmallow Chick thinking they would be similar. Not at all. They are very short, simple stories. Better for younger then 3 I guess. They will be good for when she starts to read I suppose.

Julius is ready for the Halloween party, dressed up in his clown suit, and so is his mother, who has made cupcakes for the party. Julius can't wait to dig into the cupcakes, and when told not to eat any by his mother, he decides to make an end-run around his mother - he will only eat the candy corns from the tops of the cupcakes. Now, it's time for the party.

I must admit to being of two minds when it comes to this book. I thought that the story was quite cute, and the illustration work very nice. I must say, though, that I was troubled that the book merely seemed to exist to teach a lesson of obeying the letter of a parent's orders, while disobeying the spirit of them. There is no counting in this book, and no educational lessons, there is merely the story of the candy corn.

Well, I guess that that is all that I can say. I was disappointed with the book, and very disappointed with its lesson. I can't recommend this book, but I leave it to you. Decide for yourself if this is the kind of book you want for your little reader.

There seems no point to this book's existence. I know it is only a book for toddlers but shouldn't we respect their ability to comprehend and learn, however small we may think it is?

In this book, Julius' mother tells him not to eat the cupcakes. Great! So he thinks he'll count the candy corn. Well, after counting to one, there are no more numbers. So you can't really call it a counting book.

Aside from "counting" the candy corn, Julius eats all the candy corn. This is later justified by inferring, "At least he didn't eat the cupcakes." There is no retribution for his eating the candy corn. None of his friends are disappointed that they do not get a candy corn on their cupcake. His mother does not scold him for his malfeasance. So you can't really call it a morality tale.

Education and morality are pretty much the cornerstone of any good children's book. Therefore my conclusion that there is no purpose to this book.

But it may be encouraging to those who would like to get into children's publishing to know that even this sort of dribble is considered publishable.

I am a bibliophile, but this book is getting tossed.