Good morning readers; it’s the second day of the review challenge and something completely different from the first review of this ten day slog. Today’s review is of the book Frizzy Tizzy Goes to the Park by Wendy Hinbest. This is one that nearly fell through the net due to my messy email inbox but I found lingering a couple of days ago. I do like reviewing children’s book but I don’t normally review books of this age group and I’m not quite sure how to go about it, but you know me, I’ll find a way as always.

I’m not going to pop in the blurb of this book because it is so short which I was a little disappointed by. It’s the second book I’ve been disappointed with based on the blurb because reading that small amount of text is supposed to really intrigue me as a reader. If you’re writing a book make sure to sell it in the blurb don’t leave it to what is inside. You can’t rely on the brilliance of the words within but instead need to sell it to the reader; us humans are a fickle bunch. So this book tells the rather short but lovely story of a little girl named Frizzy. They call her this because of her frightfully frizzy hair, unsurprisingly. In this particular adventure our little friend Tizzy visits the park with her parents and decides to attempt the ‘big slide.’ However, at the top she gets a little frightened; luckily she meets another little girl who helps her conquer her fears and make it down safely.

The most important part for me when reviewing children’s books is that the target audience is met for the book. This book is the perfect read-aloud story for very young listeners. This is due to the simple nature of the writing, the word choice and the length of the book as a whole. I liked the themes that ran throughout and despite being a short story it shows the different topics of diversity, making friends, inclusion and how to overcome fear, which was rather lovely. I did love the inclusion of diversity in terms of character and yet it didn’t encroach on the actual plot line. I have read a number of children’s books recently and I have noticed that finding a children’s book with diversity mentioned without being the subject can be difficult to find so this is a lovely point to make.

I did think it was a little short and I think it could have easily incorporated a more explanatory ending without becoming too complicated. Maybe just something to round off the entire story and make it leave more of a message at the end of the book; I think if you’re attempting to take a position, make it strongly and determinedly. Even though it’s a children’s book make it mean something more than a little enjoyable. Additionally I unfortunately didn’t like the illustrations; they looked as though an adult had attempted to draw as they thought a child would. I think if you’re going to do illustrations choose one or the other or else, for me, it feels a little contrived. I did however like how closely they accompanied the story and I think if you were reading this with a child it would work rather well.

Overall Frizzy Tizzy has many positives; the pictures although not right for me are both colourful and follow the story directly which leads to a great read-along book. It has a diverse approach which is lovely and is short and sweet meaning that the attention span of your little one won’t be lost in the reading process. Overall a sweet children’s book that could have been expanded to create more of a message but will keep the attention of your little ones.