Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Children's Book Review

I've decided to add this as a weekly feature since we go to the library all the time getting new books to read at bedtime. I don't really have the time nor the inclination to read an entire adult book (and the ones I do read are "how to" books that I pull just the amount of info I need and pass it on) so I decided it would be fun to do a Book Review on some of the many children's books that we read. This will most likely evolve over time, but for now I want to start with one of the best books we've picked up in a long time.



"Marsupial Sue Presents The Runaway Pancake"
written by John Lithgow and illustrated by Jack E. Davis

One of the best parts about this book to me as an adult is that it is written and illustrated as if its a play. The characters are all in costume as would be for a play and though my 4 year old daughter doesn't get the significance of this, I personally think its absolutely wonderful to set it up this way.

So without ruining the story for you I will simply tell you that this is one FAST pancake that has no interest in becoming anyones lunch.


There is a fun little ditty of a song in here that we now sing whenever we are driving down the road too. From a parent's standpoint I'm not so sure I really like the song, it's not that its mean spirited it's just not teaching anything good or bad. That is my only gripe about the book, and really that's not bad. From my 4 year old daughter's perspective its the best song in the world. It's repetitive which makes it easy to learn and easy to remember and builds in the characters as it goes on.

The illustrations are bright, colorful and detailed. You have to really look close at each page to catch all the details in each picture.

I highly recommend this book to any mom or dad who wants a fun book to share with their kids. This is one that is great for boys and girls and I'd say a child as young as 2 or as old as maybe 6 or 7, though a little simplistic for the older child it is fun to sing the song which is very "sing songie" in its style. We enjoyed it enough to go and look for some of the other books that Mr. John Lithgow, now bestselling author, has written. Here are the other titles as I've been provided on the book jacket; Carnival of the Animals, I'm a Manatee, Micawber, Marsupial Sue and The Remarkable Farkle McBride.

7 comments:

Emily of Ella-Bear Bowtique said...

Sounds like a cute book. I had no idea that John Lithgow was an author. We'll be sure to check for his book in the future when we visit the library.
Great review!

Anonymous said...

This does sound like a fun book to check out! I love John Lithgow, he really does do great children's books! I have read the manatee book and a few others of his (MIL is a kindergarten teacher LOL).

Thanks for the recommendation!

MayRae said...

Thanks for sharing! We try to go to the library every week or two and my daughter picks most of the books. I pick a few here and there. I'll have to look and see if they carry Lithgow!

Cutesie Clips said...

Great job! I love the info. about the song. I think this will be a great addition to your blog!

Beth said...

We'll look for it, sounds so cute. Great review, I love this new feature.

Anonymous said...

Great addition to your blog! I like that you will be doing features like this, keep them up! I will be sure to keep an eye out for this book when I bring Kaelin to the library next!! It looks so cute and I love the illustrations!

April said...

That book sounds like one that will make my 6 1/2 yr old laugh while reading.We will look for it at the library.

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