Customer Reviews

Wenda the Wacky Wiggler (The Rainbow Collection)

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Wenda the Wacky Wiggler is bound to be like a child you know. There's always a spirited child around, who can't seem to stop moving because of the joy and happiness they feel from within. My son is very much like Wenda... always on the go, always moving, always happy.

Christopher Aslan really brings a posiitve attitude toward these kinds of children. Grumpy adults that just want peace and quiet are unable to enjoy life like Wenda. Wenda the Wacky Wiggler reminds us all to let go and enjoy what life brings to us. It isn't as hard as we think... and just like Wenda, when we let go and let happiness in, we can do so much more with what we have!

I really love this story and I honestly believe that this is the kind of book that will one day be bound in a book of classics. It reminds me of the kinds of stories found in The Children's Book of Virtues. I fully anticipate seeing Christopher Aslan's Wenda in a book like that one day!

Reviewed by: Wayne Walker

Have you ever heard certain people described as "marching to the beat of a different drummer"? It is often used to identify those who are willing to stand apart from the crowd and just be themselves. Wenda is a unique girl who is always wiggling and dancing and moving and tapping with joy to some kind of beat. Even in the middle of the night, her toe wiggles while she is asleep. However, when Wenda comes to town, the grumpy and gloomy townsfolk do not like her wiggling because it makes them grouchy and cranky, so the mayor orders that all music be stopped. But when Wenda keeps dancing, they wonder, "How can this be?" Well, there is still a little bird chirping its song. The mayor orders the animal catcher to get the bird and lock it in his truck. Now there is no music at all. What will Wenda do? Is she totally defeated?

This is the second book in author Christopher Aslan's series of children's picture books, The Rainbow Collection. Like the first book, Lilly and Lucy's Shadow, Wendy the Wacky Wiggler is based on the universal themes of love and wisdom that both parents and children can enjoy together. While we must always be concerned about our reputation and the ways in which our actions affect people, children also ought to learn that they should not let the negativity of others put a damper on their love of life and its resultant joy of spirit. As someone once said, it's not so important what happens to us but what happens inside us that really counts. The rhyming text is quite appropriate both for preschoolers in a read-aloud setting and for beginning readers to try to read for themselves. And the storybook-like drawings by illustrator Emily Mullock are very attractive. The two combine to present an important lesson for children to hear.

Wenda the Wacky Wiggler is a rhyming children's picturebook about a young girl who is constantly dancing and wiggling with joy. The more somber townspeople are discomfited, and take away all the music. At first she despairs, but then she comes to understand that the exuberance that fuels her dancing comes from inside! An infectiously high-spirited story brought to life with extravagantly playful color illustrations.

Wenda is a very happy young girl who always seems to be dancing and moving around. Even when she sleeps at night some part of her body always seems to be wiggling. Much to the dismay of the grumpy people in town, Wenda was always happy and always moving. To her everything was a happy song, from a singing bird to the sounds heard around town.


The mean old mayor of the town insisted that Wenda stop wiggling but she wouldn't. He finally removed every thing possible to create sounds to make Wenda dance and wiggle, including a poor little bird who was picked up by the animal warden.


Just when the people of the town though Wenda was finally going to stop dancing she got up and danced some more. They soon learned from Wenda that the music comes from within yourself. Kind of like "dancing to the tune of your own drummer" in a way.


This super cute story kind of reminds me of the holiday movie "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" where the mayor has all the toys removed from town because he accidentally tripped over one and broke his leg, but nothing he did prevented the children from experiencing the joy of getting toys from Santa (at least in a way it reminds me of that story).


This is a positive story that reminds us to look within ourselves and how we create our own joys and our own "music" from within and that you shouldn't let others put you down just because they don't agree with what you are doing. It reminds us to be true to ourselves and what makes us happy.


I LOVE the artwork! The images are very whimsical and the pages explode with lots and lots of colors.