The Book in the Book in the Book

The Book in the Book in the Book. Julien Baer. Illustrated by Simon Bailly. 2019. Holiday House. 56 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: What a beautiful day! The air is so clear. The sky so blue. Thomas is on vacation with his parents. Hooray!

Premise/plot: Thomas is on vacation with his parents. He gets bored. He loses his parents. He finds a book. The name of the book is The Book in the Book in the Book. He reads the book which stars him and his family on vacation. He gets bored. He loses his parents. He finds a book. The name of the book is The Book in the Book in the Book. He reads the book which stars him and his family on vacation. He gets bored. He loses his parents. He finds a book. The name of the book is The Book in the Book in the Book. He reads the book which stars him and his family on vacation. He gets bored. He loses his parents. He gets woken up by his parents--in each book.

My thoughts: This is a premise-driven picture book that is Inception-like. It is odd and strange and a bit boring. Since all the focus is on the premise--to see how many layers this one can get before he wakes up from his dream--there is no characterization. I don't care about Thomas or his family. I just want the book to be over.

Text: 2 out of 5
Illustrations: 2 out of  5
Total: 4 out of 10


© 2019 Becky Laney of Young Readers

Scaredy Squirrel At The Beach

Scaredy Squirrel At The Beach. Melanie Watt. 2008. Kids Can Press. 32 pages.

Scaredy Squirrel never goes to the beach. He'd rather vacation at home alone where it's safe than risk being surrounded by the wrong crowd.

To avoid encountering the wrong kinds of crowds, Scaredy Squirrel plans on making his own private beach, right at the bottom of his nice happy nut tree. True, kitty litter doesn't have quite the same feel as sand. But still, a few sacrifices must be made for safety, right? But there is one thing his beach needs--really needs to be complete. Seashells. What's a squirrel to do? This one heads off to the real beach to get a few. To bring home. What will he learn along the way?

This one is funny and cute. I definitely liked it!

© Becky Laney of Young Readers

Rattletrap Car

Root, Phyllis. 2001. Rattletrap Car. Illustrated by Jill Barton. Candlewick.

What's a family to do when they need a vacation--a relaxing day at the lake--but their car doesn't go fast or far? Read and see in Rattletrap Car.

Junie was hot. Jakie was hot. Even the baby was hot, hot, hot.
"Let's go to the lake," said Junie and Jakie.
"Go," said the baby.

Even though the father thinks the car isn't in any condition to make it all the way to the lake and back, he's game to give it a try. So they all make preparations. What do they bring? Razzleberry, dazzleberry, snazzleberry fizz; chocolate marshmallow fudge delight; a beach ball; a surfboard; and a three-speed, wind-up, paddle-wheel boat. Do they make it? Is there day everything they hoped it would be? You'll have to read and see for yourself.

Loved everything about this one: the story, the characters, the language, the illustrations. (The rattletrap car, for example, goes "flippita fluppita fizzelly sizzelly wappity bappity lumpety bumpety clinkety clankety bing bang pop!") This one is fun. Purely silly. Worth a giggle or two at least.

© Becky Laney of Young Readers