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Animals of the Bible

October 10, 2016

Why animals?

There's no discernible moral to it. There's no obvious reason that they chose to illustrate animals. There's no point they seem to be making. It's just weird.

Message

None.

Alphabet City

October 10, 2016

The alphabet is everywhere.

It's interesting, but not enough to look at more than once, as with many alphabet books. There's nothing further to it.

Message

None.

“More More More,” Said the Baby: Three Love Stories

October 10, 2016

All babies want love.

The multiculturalism is almost Caldecott-bait. It's like it was specifically written to appeal to givers of children's book awards. It's not a bad message, actually, probably not a message at all.

Message

None.

A Child's Calendar

October 10, 2016

Lackluster poems for every month.

It's pretty stereotypical. Very American, with the Fourth of July, baseball, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and the obsession with Christmas in December. There's not really much to it, with no storyline or message.

Message

None.

Finders Keepers

October 10, 2016

Maybe just stop asking jerks for advice.

Basically, the message is, "Don't trust other people to give you advice, because they just want something for themselves." But if everyone acted that way, society would crumble.

Message

Everyone's in it for themselves.

Baby Radar

October 10, 2016

Cute story from toddler's perspective.

It's just fun. There's nothing really to it, and no real point. But it captures the feel, at least as far as an outsider can, of the mind of a young child who is walking but not yet speaking in complete sentences.

Message

None.

In a Blue Room

October 10, 2016

Not a bad story to fall asleep to.

The kid being obsessed with something like that is very realistic, especially nighttime rituals, but the girl is demanding something that doesn't exist.

Message

None.

A Chair for My Mother

October 10, 2016

Try hard and do your best.

It's a good story, there's just not much to it. It's not enough to hold my attention.

Message

Save up for things you need and you will succeed in buying them.

A Bad Case of Stripes

October 10, 2016

Great illustrations, obtrusive message.

It's a good message, and the illustrations are really captivating, but the story is very didactic. The message is very clearly "be yourself", and it hits you over the head with that.

Message

Be yourself.

The Chicken-Chasing Queen of Lamar County

October 10, 2016

Chasing chickens, if you know what I mean. And I don't.

Is that a thing? Am I missing something? Is that some kind of meme that I'm out of the loop on? Chicken chasing?

Message

Don't be mean to chickens.