Hellllllllllllo readers and happy Thursday to you. The weekend is in view I promise and although it’s the morning, it’s a cheery day and I have a book review for you so, not to bad? I can see you grimacing. Let me make you a cup of peppermint tea and grab us some biscuits eh, and we’ll discuss a new children’s book which I wouldn’t mind sharing.

Children’s books can be a little difficult to review at the best of times. There are so many different elements to pull together that make such an impact on the book in comparison with adult novels. In a novel for the older reader, strong character profiles and relationships can outweigh a tedious plot or a riveting back story can save truly un-likeable characters but in children’s book not so easy. Once you throw in target audience, readability and the images used to make the book flow it makes it a little more difficult and today’s is an interesting one to judge.

The author has told me that the book didn’t quite come out as planned and that self-publishing using The Children’s Book Creator on Amazon has changed the way the final product comes out and I think that is really true of this book. It lacks a little professional feel and feels a little rushed. I know it’s a Thursday morning but for me a children’s book should have the ability to appeal to me as a reader. I know this may come across a little strange but there’s no reason why it shouldn’t at least intrigue me to read to the end. The pictures are a little strange and distorted due a very heavy edit however they do have painterly feel that I think if displayed in the correct way with the correct size of page they do have the possibility of working as a finished product. I think if they were a lot bigger on the page it would make for a really really stunning product.

I must admit it’s difficult to tell with this book because by having the book in PDF form it’s difficult to see how it all comes together. However I think the reading age of the little girl we see on the pages and the text that is used to tell the story just about matches and if it is a little young I think some of the words and phrases would stretch a younger reader. The story is what I would call a little syrupy, but it does tell a story and it does try to put a message across at the end. I liked that all the pages matched and the images showed a real little girl and I think it’s a great start. However I do think that it is a little rushed; just because it’s a children’s book doesn’t mean it can be pushed out without care because with a children’s book you’re trying to make new readers and inspire the next generation to get stuck into books. I think with better spacing in terms of the images and bigger images to really pull the reader in this could be a much better looking book and although we’d all like to think that children’s books are about the writing it’s really a visual experience for a child.

I think this book has potential, but it needs to go back to the drawing board and think what the child is getting from this. If it’s the moral and the wording push that, if it’s the visual images then push that, don’t attempt to half do both. I think for me, it’s an unfinished product but with some tweaks and a look back as to why the book was written in the first place this could be a great little book.

Links

Amazon