meh

Intelligent doughnuts and the implications thereof.

I don't think it would upset children. I don't think children would understand the implications of this. Maybe I'm just weird-- no. No. The book is definitely weird. It's not me.

Message

None. It defies morals.

Don't do this to your kids.

What?! This isn't... bad... it's just stupid. So there's a realistic problem, and a stupid resolution to it. It's not harmful, but it's not helpful.

Message

Babies take a lot of attention.

Toys can be sad too. Or not.

Instead of just complaining to the bear that he looks sad, they actually try to cheer him up. They're clearly all well-meaning about it.

Message

People aren't always sad even if they look sad. Or, don't jump to conclusions based on how someone looks.

Ancient China is a terrible place.

It's kind of like the adventure is thrown in for the sake of adventure. There's no character development, there's no real interesting story line, it's just them fleeing constantly.

Message

Ancient China is interesting. Or, don't open magic books.

A weird legend without a point.

Nothing happens at the end. Nothing changes. They don't get anything from their experience except a story to tell.

Message

None.

Jingoistic nonsense.

It's not going to teach anybody the alphabet, and it's not really interesting. I mean, the things it talks about are important, but there is just so much text crammed onto every page in little, tiny locations.

Message

America is the best. America is awesome.

Pretending random things children do are planned.

It's a little bit humorous to see it set off as if she had considered the implications ahead of time and came to that decision, but it doesn't work as well as the followup book, 11 Experiments That Failed.

Message

None.

Papa Bear fails at being a detective.

Wow, that's a terribly useful book. Papa Bear has a dog, for crying out loud, that he seems to be trying to get to sniff the trail. So they are literally following their noses at the beginning and that doesn't lead to the answer.

Message

None.

Strange book about artistic reptiles.

It seems kind of pretentious in a way, like it's supposed to be artistic and I don't really understand where it's going. There's no message. It's just baffling.

Message

None.

Dated book with a confusing message.

It's a story that gets more and more complex as it goes on, but then fizzles out at the end. The dual messages are rather in conflict.

Message

Either don't tell lies, or use your imagination.