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Review Date: 11/5/2014
Helpful Score: 1
A friend of mine was surprised I never read this as a kid so I went back to read it as an adult. To be fair, adults are not the intended audience so my review may not be the best to judge whether kids will like it. I remember what I liked as a young adult, however, and I think this book would have been as painful to me then as it was to me now. I really wanted to like it, because I love ancient Egypt, I love suspense and the premise seemed promising. However, there was something unnerving about the whole thing that make it difficult to get through (in fact I kept putting it down, reading other things and then going back to it). The characters were not overly like-able and there wasn't much info to go on that made them interesting except maybe for April who you could tell was struggling with her mother really not wanting her. The pace was also painfully slow, with the occasional hint that something could happen but then, nope, nothing yet for another five chapters. The joy of the kids imaginative game was also made downright unnerving with the lurking of a child serial murderer in the neighborhood, which nowhere in the description does it suggest this book is about. I suppose that's maybe what the author wanted, to throw in that element of scary and mystery, but it's sort of deceiving for a kids novel to make it sound like it's about kids playing a mysterious game and then BAM throw in a child murderer. I don't know, it just didn't sit right with me.
Review Date: 6/12/2012
I got this because my son loves the movie, especially the dancing chick Phil. It's a cute book, but unfortunately instead of just reducing the story for a kids book they actually changed it. There's no mention of the Fred character and they changed the ending (which was one of the best parts if you enjoy watching Phil dance, and they don't even show him dancing at all :( ). Still cute, but I don't recommend it if you want something that sticks to the story. You'd probably want to get the chapter book they did for this movie instead.
Review Date: 11/17/2010
This book is wonderful. A simple approach to bullying using colors and numbers that even younger children can understand. Impressive for it's message as well as the way it uses visual color and shape to impress the feelings of the color "characters." By the end bullying is clearly not accepted and the message about standing up against bullying is firm, but even the bully in the story is granted forgiveness. Absolutely brilliant.
Review Date: 7/24/2012
Helpful Score: 1
Despite being a fan of Kevin Henkes, I could not bring myself to like this book. The idea behind the story- trying to get a young child to part with his/her blanket- is certainly one that might appeal to parents. However, I dislike the fact that the parents start trying to force their son to give up his security object simply because the neighbor who can't mind her own business peer pressures them into thinking they are being bad parents by letting him keep his "baby" object. They also make a fuss over Owen not being able to go to school with a blanket (which strikes me as odd because the preschools where I live don't seem to mind if you child brings a special object as long as they tuck it away in their cubbie). So not only do the parents attempt to force the poor kid to suddenly be okay with getting rid of his blanket, but when they realize it won't work they attempt to compromise by cutting it up into little squares and sending him to school with handkerchief-sized pieces. Suddenly Owen doesn't care that his blanket isn't fuzzy anymore and is in small squares, which I have a hard time believing wouldn't be rather heartbreaking in real life. My own son has a blanket he loves dearly but he is naturally spending less and less time with it on his own as he gets older without me having to give him lectures on how the nosy neighbor thinks he's a baby and hacking it into small pieces. I'm sorry, Kevin Henkes, but this one did not work for me as a parent. I'm not saying there shouldn't be rules about where a security object is or isn't allowed, but I disagree with the message that it's wrong to have one the minute you hit school age.
Review Date: 7/24/2012
Despite being a fan of Kevin Henkes, I could not bring myself to like this book. The idea behind the story- trying to get a young child to part with his/her blanket- is certainly one that might appeal to parents. However, I dislike the fact that the parents start trying to force their son to give up his security object simply because the neighbor who can't mind her own business peer pressures them into thinking they are being bad parents by letting him keep his "baby" object. They also make a fuss over Owen not being able to go to school with a blanket (which strikes me as odd because the preschools where I live don't seem to mind if you child brings a special object as long as they tuck it away in their cubbie). So not only do the parents attempt to force the poor kid to suddenly be okay with getting rid of his blanket, but when they realize it won't work they attempt to compromise by cutting it up into little squares and sending him to school with handkerchief-sized pieces. Suddenly Owen doesn't care that his blanket isn't fuzzy anymore and is in small squares, which I have a hard time believing wouldn't be rather heartbreaking in real life. My own son has a blanket he loves dearly but he is naturally spending less and less time with it on his own as he gets older without me having to give him lectures on how the nosy neighbor thinks he's a baby and hacking it into small pieces. I'm sorry, Kevin Henkes, but this one did not work for me as a parent. I'm not saying there shouldn't be rules about where a security object is or isn't allowed, but I disagree with the message that it's wrong to have one the minute you hit school age.
Review Date: 4/24/2012
Love this book! It's got a great message about getting out of the grumpies with the help of a friend, and the repetitive parts of the text help kids chime in when being read to. Adorable illustrations, too!
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