That's a pretty big catnap.
Of course, she falls asleep, but it's very nice how the parents give her the option as long as she stays in bed. Which is a reasonable thing to do for kids, and matches well with my parenting style. It's very well written and doesn't have a strong message but the message it has is good.
Everything in the world sleeps.
What's an im-ag-in-a-shun?
"Go use your imagination." "How do we do that?" Like they've never imagined anything in their lives. It's kind of bland. It just seems like they're copying this older story instead of being very imaginative. It's like the writer was being lazy.
Using your imagination is awesome!
Know-it-all four year old.
The ending is kind of sappy. "When I was little I didn't know what a family was. When I was little I didn't know what dreams were. When I was little I didn't know who I was. Now I do." I still don't know who I am, and I'm in my 30s. Still working on that one, Jamie Lee Curtis. Still working on that one.
You get to do a lot more fun things when you're older than you did when you were a baby.
A bit like the Rainbow Fish, but with its own issues.
The nice things that he does for other people reward him by changing his outward appearance to a form that others will accept. It's so bizarre. It's like he has to earn the ability to fit in. It's difficult to tell whether it's saying that fitting in is good or not. It's hard to understand this book.
Either help others less fortunate than you, or people won't accept you unless you fit in.
What's the opposite of racism?
Byrd Baylor just kind of annoys me. Her books are just full of glorification of and romanticization of ancient cultures, especially Native Americans, in a way that I don't feel is realistic and comes off as sappy and too reverent of people who are no better or worse than we are.
People should worship the sun.
Who are you in the dark?
It's basically an interesting personification of the dark as something to be respected but not feared. A force of nature, really. It's personified as something which is helpful, nice, and a little bit misunderstood. Not as scary as it first seems.
Respect darkness but don't fear it.
In the absence of their dumpling maker, they formed the Plastic Oni Band.
It's very weird. It feels like it should have a moral, but I can't find one. She claims early on to not be afraid of the oni, but when they're chasing her it says that she's frightened, so it's not like she's fearless. I guess she's brave because she perseveres despite her fear.
Be brave.
I eat my peas with honey, I've done it all my life.
It's kind of like the kind of joke a young child would write. It's not very funny, and the whole book is based around it, which is just bizarre. Maybe a young child would find it funny, but I don't. It's not bad, but it's not great. Contrary to the quote on the back by Parenting Magazine, I don't think it will make children eat their vegetables. It might actually make them sympathize with them, which would be the opposite of your intention.
Eat your dinner so you can get dessert. Or, peas are just like people.
Deducing the whole from the smallest fragment.
The creative genius of this man and his time, and how he ran into problems but persevered beyond that, makes for a fascinating book. All the little details of model construction and the beautiful pictures are informative as well as interesting.
Dinosaurs are awesome, and science is awesome.
Doesn't even attempt to answer the “which came first” question.
There's no story line, really, it's just playing with artistic holes in paper and what appears to be oil paints. It doesn't seem intended to be educational, just a series of paintings that are all interconnected. It's one of those books that would be better as an art installation than a book.
None.
