Customer Reviews

Pinduli (ASPCA Henry Bergh Children's Book Awards)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Pinduli's Mother has always tried to let her know that she is the most beautiful hyena in all the world. But not everyone feels that way, especially not Dog, Zebra, and Lion, for they have all made fun of her, telling little Pinduli that her wiggly stripes are ugly, her big ears are unattractive, and her fuzzy mane is not kept well. Pinduli wants nothing more than to just disappear, then no one will be able to hurt her feelings anymore. So she tries various ways to do just that. However, it is only when a crazy mishap that she gets into triggers a strange chain of events that she finally seeks justice, and realizes that even though she's different, she's beautiful.

Jannell Cannon has once again created an amazing children's book whose story and illustrations will stay with the reader, young or old, for years and years to come. Her illustrations are nothing short of brilliant, and the storyline is wonderful, especially for young readers, for it teaches the lesson that everyone is beautiful in their own way. This is a book that should be a part of everyone's home library. Don't miss it.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

I just read this book to my 3 year old son and he loves it. I don't think he can grasp the moral of the story yet, but he loves the story itself and the pictures. It is sweet, loving and responsible. I think it is because it teaches following through and taking responsiblity. Each individual who has hurt Pinduli's feelings realized how he had done so, explained why he did such a thing, went back and confronted the source of his irritation, who then went back and confronted the source of his irritation and it was brought back to the first individual, who owned up to his action and changed. All this was done in an amusing and loving way. Read it to your child because the book is much better than the convoluted way I tried to explain here.

What a cute puppy! Just look at those soft brown eyes, that little tongue, its smile. How adorable! Let's get this book for our grand. What's that you say? A hyena! No way! No animal this cute could be a hyena! Why, those critters are known for scavaging and tearing chunks of meat from an animal. A hyena! Why, I declare, at least, let's look through the book.

And another Janell Cannon illustrated children's book hits the bestseller list. Hyena or not, this is a cute puppy. But I mis-speak. From the back of the book I learn that there are four kinds of hyenas, which do resemble dogs but belong to their own Hyaenidae family. Our Pinduli belongs to the striped species which has the fartherest habitat range and eats anything from bugs to fruit to small animals. All the facts about striped hyenas, as well as the other animals, can be found disguised in the story. Clever.

The story of Pinduli takes her adrift from Mother. When the wild dogs laugh at her ears, she plip-plops them and finds her hearing diminished. The lion laughs at her bristly fur and shames her into the water to hide it. Then her weak stripes are made fun of. Finally, Pinduli rolls in dust, making her a ghastly white. When she begins her return trip home, she passes the water hole where the animals are gathered. They scream and run from "the ghost." Pinduli also runs. Once she realizes the mistaken identity, she assumes the character of the Great Spirit and demands each bad deed must be erased and the Great Spirit appeased.

There is food aplenty for Penduli and her mother from then on. The mother exclaims that Pinduli is not only beautiful but smart. As a children's librarian, I try not to emphasize the lessons of the stories but let children make their own conclusions which they do. Through experience, I have learned that this is a beautiful book for children. And there are no cute puppies in it!

I bought Stellaluna even before I had a child! I absolutely fell in love not only with the story and message the book conveyed, but also the wonderful and endearing artwork. I have since had a child and purchased all of her books, the latest one being Pinduli. It is the perfect follow-up to her other books.

My son absolutly loves these books as well! As I read these to him, he is just captivated!

Do yourself and your child(ren) a favor and buy these books...you will not be disappointed!!

A great book to read that sends a much needed message to our youth. Janell Cannon has written another wonderful book to add to her long list. I felt that this book had a great message and displayed it in a colorful and imaginative way. Little Pinduli was getting picked on by all the animals and come to find out, the animals that were picking on Pinduli were also picking on one another. In the end, all the animals realized that they were different and that they shouldn't make fun of someone for being different. This message was apparent when Dog said "Who am I to be talking about ears?" Overall it was a great book with vivid and bright illustrations that really captivated the eyes. I will definitely be reading Ms. Cannon's next book.

Another wonderful book by Jean Cannon. We have all her books and they are just wonderful. The animals are not your backyard animals or pets and children expand their vocabulary and knowledge about them. The illustrations are astonishing. The story is also so beautiful and as any other story by her, there is a lesson to be learned. Great addition to any child's library.

Awesome book by Janell Cannon. If you liked Stellaluna and Verdi then you will love Pinduli. A wonderful moral to this story.

My kindergartener checked this out of her school library and we all liked it so much that I just ordered it because she was so sad that she had to return it. It's a great story, beautiful drawings, it names animals that they don't read about every day, and it's really just fun to read. So many children's books are so annoying when you read them every night--over and over again--but for some reason even mommy looks forward to story time when we get to read Pinduli. We love it more than Stellaluna. HIGHLY recommend it!

These illustrations are simply stunning! Beautiful, cute, just the right amount of realism and characterization - for me the illustrations won the day!

I also thoroughly appreciated (and enjoyed) Cannon's use of animals we aren't typically introduced to in stories. In addition to a lion, zebra and owl, we meet wild dogs, an ocelot, and a fennec fox (to name a few)! And the hyena was so adorable that even my sister (who doesn't like hyenas...) fell in love!

I loved the information in the back of the book about the different animals and why they have the physical characteristics that they do! Very informative and well written.

The story, however, was sadly lackluster. The story centers around a series of insults the young hyena receives about her looks, and we find that those insults were a result of the insulter having received an insult from someone else, and so on. This had the opportunity to show how important it is to NOT pay it forward when the "IT" is something negative (but the story didn't really come to that conclusion). The story also had the opportunity to show how important our individual appearances are, but again, it didn't really reach that conclusion. It was something I felt the author was trying to go for, but never achieved. In all it felt like an opportunity to get a variety of unique animals together on a few pages, and a way to introduce children to lesser-known creatures (which is totally great! but I would have liked there to be a better story to accompany such a goal). (plus, I was a little disheartened to see the young hyena lie and never 'fess-up' except to the mother who ended up praising her because of her 'cleverness'...)

I know I'm being very picky here. But I really would recommend this book for the illustrations and information and hopefully it would prompt some good discussions. :)

The 2nd grade teacher that I volunteer for has a great collection of "books that teach a value" and she had me read this book to her class. I knew immediately that I had have it. The story teaches children not to say unkind words to another even though someone has said unkind words to them.