Customer Reviews

Monday

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

 

 

My three year old daughter sat through two readings of this book today. I read it to her this afternoon for the first time and thought to myself "hmmmm/interesting/artistic/not sure it will appeal to the general masses". I was curious what my husband would think of it and so I had him read it to her again at bedtime. My husband is an Aerospace Engineer; way too intelligent and what does he say about it? "It was good. I like the bumpy snow". :) The book has soulful illustrations and there are raised parts to add a sensory allure. If we had the story back when I took Philosphy in college we could have probably talked about it for hours. I recommend this book as an artful; unique; simple yet complex addition to anyone's collection, young or old. However, as the lowest common denominator in America has been polluted by commercialism; I'm not sure they'll embrace this. We seem to turn children's literature into animated television shows and I'm not sure this would lend well to that - which isn't necessarily a bad thing. A thought on the illustrations - it's kind of like the Beatles "Yellow Submarine" meets "The Wizard of Oz" with a touch of something I can't quite put my finger on and I believe is worthy of looking at just for an analysis/perspective. I was thinking people are either going to love it or hate it, but the longer I've had to digest the book I'm leaning away from the hate part and thinking most people are going to find it to be very....unique.

This has been my daughter's favorite book for several months, and she is not even 2 yet. The illustrations are superb, the dialog is open ended and complex, with some difficult words for a young child, (ex: salutations, expand, albeit). I believe this will keep her engaged for a long time, as there is much to talk about thematically in the book. The die cut cover and embossed pages are tactile and she always loves touching them, but they are subtle and work into the storyline well. As an adult who can tire of reading the same book repeatedly to a young child, this book is a delight. The book design, artwork, and changing paper weight all make reading this book over and over again enjoyable, like re-reading a good poem.

Upon first glance I was unsure about this book. It is translated from French and doesn't make a whole lot of sense (or maybe I'm just thick!) However, after about a million reads to my kids, it has grown on me. The illustrations are so unique and some of them are textured. The story is a little odd, but interesting and different. My 2 year-old daughter is obsessed with this book and my 5 year-old son enjoys it...every night!