The tricky thing is the point.
It's one of those books that I'm not quite sure what to make of. It's an interesting story; I just don't really see what they're trying to say. I feel like some readers might think that it's glorifying con artists.
Tricky Vic is an interesting person from history.
Great big disappointment.
I had high hopes for this book. I really did. I came away from it feeling like this is not a book for children, it's for the adult reader.
Fat people love their kids more.
In a world... where there are only birds and rabbits...
It's not bad. It's got a good message, but it doesn't really go anywhere with it. It could have gone so much farther, and it didn't.
Everybody fits in somewhere. There's a place for you.
What does it all mean??
I feel like this book is supposed to be metaphorical for something, but I don't get what. Maybe adoption? At first it comes across as maybe being like LGBTQ, but it doesn't go in the right direction for that.
Unicorns and narwhals are similar?
Don't be arrogant, or a hermit will turn you back into a mouse.
Are all tigers prideful? Are they supposed to be that way? Is that what this story is saying, that tigers are all prideful? Was the tiger that attached the mouse/dog prideful? What does that even imply? Or is it saying that you shouldn't be proud of being powerful if you didn't earn your power?
Bigger animals are more prideful and less grateful? Or maybe, don't be proud of what you didn't earn?
I roll my eyes.
It feels like the author didn't even try to write an actual book. The art is of spotty quality. I'm not familiar with David McPhail's other illustration work, but I'm not impressed by what he did in this book.
Children who are learning to read need really simple books.
Somewhere on the good side of "meh."
"I don't have to tell you how these old friends felt at meeting again in this desperate situation." Okay, technically, Mr. Steig, you don't. But you also didn't have to write this book. You're a writer, for Pete's sake. Write.
Be kind and help others.
I guess tortoises are turtles, too?
Alfie thinks that the party he arrives at, Nia's eighth birthday party, is the same day as he left, a year before. Maybe he's just really stupid.
Turtles love you back.
Cute story about a misplaced toy.
It really captures the emotions that people go through, especially kids, when they worry that they've been forgotten, with a pervasive humor and dinosaur-toy-specific details.
Favorite toys are important. Or, family who are separated will find each other.
Sorry, Larry.
When I got the email requesting a review for this book, the brief summary had me guessing I was going to enjoy it about as much as reading a high school yearbook from a city I've never been to with photos of nobody I knew. That was about right, with the added experiences of confusion, annoyance, and mild concern for the authors' legal well-being. Also, it was way longer than I expected.
Chicago is awesome.
