Customer Reviews

The New Friend (Toot & Puddle)

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

 

 

Opal has decided to visit her friends Toot and Puddle at their home in Woodcock Pocket. However, instead of arriving by herself, Opal has brought along her new friend Daphne. Daphne is a very special pig who can do everything the best, including standing on her head, dancing, holding her breath, playing the violin, and more. This begins to make Opal a bit jealous, for she wants to be the best at something. However, when Opal begins outshining Daphne at various activities, the tables turn.

Once again, Holly Hobbie has created an endearing new tale featuring the little piggies of Woodcock Pocket and their lovely friends. Filled with gorgeous illustrations, along with lovely prose, and a message that will teach children that you can't always be the best at everything, as well as not to be jealous of someone when they can do something that you cannot, this is sure to be a hit with all. Including parents!

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

My 7-year-old granddaughter loves the book, and I found it endearing.

I love the illustrations in all the Toot and Puddle books, the are lovely and calming, and so does my 4 year old son. We have several from the series and they all get read at bedtime regularly. The stories are sweet and have messages about friendship and perserverence. I would recommend them to anyone with a child over 3.

I love reading the Toot & Puddle books to my daughter. The art is beautiful and is full of details not found very often these days. This story has a moral and is a nice segue to the conversation about "being yourself." And who doesn't want that?

The only reason I wouldn't give this book 5 stars is because I enjoy the other Toot & Puddle books a little more. This one is just a bit too modern in it's content. The others tend to be more about core childhood and timeless values.

But still, the visuals are amazing.

I am a huge fan of Toot and Puddle, so I didn't pre-read this book before purchasing. Unfortunately, I don't really want to read it to my son (who asks for Toot and Puddle every day) because the story ends up calling one of the characters a "prima donna" and then proceeds to explain what they mean by that (which isn't any better than the name-calling was by itself).
Maybe many parents wouldn't mind this book, but I am careful to try to avoid examples of name-calling.
Of course, the pictures are incredibly beautiful as usual, and there is a nice lesson in the story, as usual. I just wish authors as well as tv cartoon writers would be more aware of name-calling. I wouldn't want to hear my little guy or girl calling one of their friends a prima donna, no matter how well the shoe fits. I know they will learn name calling at some point in school or even the playground, but this story makes it look ok to label a friend like that.