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Whatever

September 22, 2016

Gets sinister at the end.

Wow. I was not expecting the dark turn at the end.

Message

Be excited about things or nobody will care about you.

The Cabbage Princess

September 22, 2016

Prance, prance, I'm the Lord of the Forest!

Maybe the king needs to be taught a lesson, but The Lord of the Forest just gets to do whatever he wants because he's magical.

Message

Don't be a jerk or you might turn your daughter into a cabbage.

Seashore Story

September 22, 2016

Japan's version of the fairy realm.

The framing device for the story basically lampshades the fact that the story has a weird ending, which is even weirder.

Message

Don't forget about those who you love. The kids explicitly point out the moral in the book.

Seven Simeons: A Russian Tale

September 22, 2016

Too-long Russian fable about the handsome guy getting the girl.

I guess it's saved from being a bad book to read to kids by virtue of not really being a book to read to kids.

Message

If you're good looking, you can get away with anything. Or, women are property.

When Winter Comes

September 22, 2016

As bland as the snow.

Very repetitive. I certainly couldn't read this to my kid because it would drive me crazy.

Message

Descriptive. None.

Amazing Grace

September 22, 2016

Feelgood story where hard work pays off.

There's no deus ex machina, contrived kind of stuff here like many children's books have, which is great.

Message

If you're good at something, it doesn't matter who you are. You don't have to be a specific kind of person to be good at something.

Time to Get Dressed!

September 22, 2016

Toddlers don't need to see their failures depicted in a book.

It's a little bit silly, but not really all that funny.

Message

None.

Tap Tap Boom Boom

September 22, 2016

Forced, annoying rhymes and not much of a story.

Perhaps the diction is intentionally childlike? But no, then they wouldn't have used the word “congregate.”

Message

None. Just descriptive.

The Berenstain Bears' Sick Days

September 22, 2016

Almost good.

If it had some better illustrations, this one might actually be good.

Message

Taking care of sick kids is hard.