Book Reviews

DOWN IN THE WOODS by Nicola Smee

I hate these kinds of children's books. So do children, perhaps because this was the only image for Down in the Woods that I could find on the Internets. I even went as far as the third 'o' in Gooooooooogle Images.

But why do I hate this book, you ask. Well, I answer. It's because there's not an iota of conflict in it. Just a bunch of stuff that happens and everyone gets along and then it's over. The art is as bland as the synopsis. I was reduced to reading in in my creepiest Mark Heap voice to keep things interesting.

The moral of the story: Don't stress about anything because everything will be great and there will be a picnic.

HOP ON POP by Dr. Seuss

I like Hop on Pop. It starts out as gibberish and slowly builds its own logic so that by the end, you're reading a book. It's like a sped up version of a child discovering language, starting with nonsensical rhyming couplets and building towards simple sentences, it slowly primes a toddlers brain to understand the more complicated bits at the end. I'm sure someone smarter than me figured this out a long time ago and said it better.

The drawings are pretty good too.

The moral of the story: Your parents are smarter than you.