Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Ten Magic Butterflies

Ten Magic Butterflies. Danica McKellar. Illustrated by Jennifer Bricking. 2018. Random House.  40 pages. [Source: Review copy]

First sentence: Once upon a time, there were 10 flower friends. Were they always happy? Well that depends...

Premise/plot: Ten (talking) flowers become dissatisfied with their life and dream of flying like the fairies they see at night. One flower speaks up and asks the fairy for a bit of magic. The fairy grants the wish: the flower becomes a butterfly. One by one flowers ask and receive the same wish. But will they be happier as butterflies?

My thoughts: This book is ALL about the math. The story is ALL about introducing the math facts:
1+9=10, 2+8=10, 3+7=10, 4+6=10, 5+5=10, 6+4=10, 7+3=10, 8+2=10, 9+1=10. True, she speeds up the process after 5+5 by just saying "Yes, one by one they filled the sky as the sweet little fairy helped each to fly." But essentially this is about the different ways you can get to ten. TOLD IN RHYME.

Would I be more forgiving if it wasn't told in rhyme? Probably. You see, I am a stubborn person who believes that rhyme and rhythm should go together...always, no exception. You can have rhythm without rhyme perhaps. But without rhythm, your rhyme is missing something vital. It's a pretender. And this book lacks rhythm.

Text: 2 out of 5
Illustrations: 3 out of 5
Total: 5 out of 10

© 2018 Becky Laney of Young Readers

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