Have I Got A Book For You!


And if you call in the next ten minutes, I'll throw in this review for free! 

THREE PROS
*Melanie Watt nails the concept of a product spokesperson using every trick in the shill handbook to get you excited about the item currently in your grasp  
*I can't tell you how many times my son has asked us to read this to him over the last two weeks; which is all the more amazing when you consider that he has never seen an infomercial in his life
*Publishing each copy with a tear on the last page (to set up the final joke) was pure genius

THREE CONS 
*There's no getting past the fact that most kids in the target audience will struggle with the theme 
*Much like Billy Mays or that guy Vince of Shamwow fame, adults will at first find themselves in some way irritated by the over-the-top style before growing a soft spot for it 
*While I would be proud of my son if he grew up to be the next Al Foxword, I imagine that a certain percentage of parents don't want their children developing Eddie Haskell personas

ONE DAD'S OPINION
Ironically, HIGABFY is cut from the same mold as the archetype it pokes fun at throughout.  The story is packed full of humor and doesn't miss a beat, yet still feels like a luxury purchase that you could do without. Look, I 
don't think I'm going out on a limb when I say that most of us would like to possess pretty much every single item we see on those paid advertisements if money wasn't an object.  Luckily, in the case of children's books, we have a "try before you buy" alternative that avoids the whole fiduciary conundrum altogether.  It's called Borrowing it from the library -- which I highly suggest you do with Have I Got A Book For You!    

Buy / BORROW / Donate / Destroy



2 comments:

Kelly Robinson said...

I always really appreciate your honesty in reviews. So many people just hype everything, so it's hard to really believe it.

mysteryguy said...

Thx!!!