Awful title versus a very nice cover image ...I don't know how to judge this book by it's cover. Guess I'll have to open it!
THREE PROS
*The illustrations inside are just as good as the cover and are somehow augmented by the black border and white edging
*Despite their horrendous monikers, the two little chickens give off a believable "best friends" vibe
*If you flip the pages silently (ignoring all text), it actually becomes a halfway decent experience
*If you flip the pages silently (ignoring all text), it actually becomes a halfway decent experience
THREE CONS
*Everything about the first half of the book annoyed me (except for the picture quality) -- how could Claude Ponti not see how terrible the flow was surrounding the chicks and their masks
*If you are going to have the letter 'A' character only make sounds that start with 'A' on every other page, then why not use "ahahaha" to signify laughing instead of "ha"
*If you are going to have the letter 'A' character only make sounds that start with 'A' on every other page, then why not use "ahahaha" to signify laughing instead of "ha"
*No explanation of where the 'A' is running off to at the end -- probably not the worst thing in the world, but my son asked me point blank and I couldn't think of anything remotely believable
ONE DAD'S OPINION
This brand new book (published in 2012) is a visual winner in both imagery and paper quality, which might be enough to convince you to drop the $12.95 on it. However, I highly suggest you don't, because French author Ponti did not impress me here. Maybe it would make more sense if I lived in Paris instead of DC, but I doubt it. Either way, I must call bullsh*t on the publisher's claim that he is one of the "world's most beloved children's book authors" since I can't find any major honors or awards linked to his name and very little else to boot. [His wiki points to Annie Dupin praising him, but I would argue her views should not be considered a reflection of the sentiment of the other six billion of us.] I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he was a few eggs short of a perfect omelette with this effort.
Buy / Borrow / DONATE / Destroy
ONE DAD'S OPINION
This brand new book (published in 2012) is a visual winner in both imagery and paper quality, which might be enough to convince you to drop the $12.95 on it. However, I highly suggest you don't, because French author Ponti did not impress me here. Maybe it would make more sense if I lived in Paris instead of DC, but I doubt it. Either way, I must call bullsh*t on the publisher's claim that he is one of the "world's most beloved children's book authors" since I can't find any major honors or awards linked to his name and very little else to boot. [His wiki points to Annie Dupin praising him, but I would argue her views should not be considered a reflection of the sentiment of the other six billion of us.] I'm sure he's a nice guy, but he was a few eggs short of a perfect omelette with this effort.
Buy / Borrow / DONATE / Destroy
3 comments:
I haven't seen this one on the shelves. Of course, the last time I was in Barnes & Noble (yesterday) I was trying to keep a two year old from destroying the Jr section while my 10 year old looked for his next *must read*. I'll give it a look when I'm there again. By myself.
Okay, I'm going to go check your blog for a post on I WANT MY HAT BACK. I'm about to review it for my blog but always love a sneak peek at what others think.
If you had given this one a destroy, I would not have disagreed. It just wasn't good... or fun to read... and I thought the "scary" picture where the chick seems to be attacking the A with a sharp nail was a bit much...
Yeah, that nail thing was pretty weird...
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