Tuesday, October 22, 2013

The Birthday Queen by Audrey Wood - OPTIONAL


Wood, Audrey and Don The Birthday Queen.  PICTURE BOOK.  Blue Sky Press (Scholastic), 2013.  $18.  Content: G. 

 The Birthday Queen is busy making sure that your birthday is the most special of days, with funny clowns, bright decorations, the best cake.  Okay – I need a second opinion, or a third or fourth.  I really was annoyed by this book.  Probably because when my children were little I tried to have fun parties for them, but I hated all of the gymnastics that went into all of it.  

Am I over thinking this?  The pictures are certainly bright and engaging – but it just seems like it is setting up some huge birthday competition between parents with too much time and money and also too large of expectations for children who don’t get all of the bells and whistles.  So I showed this book to two different friends.  The one who loves to scrapbook and Pinterest and plan elaborate parties thought that it was adorable, but still only something she would checkout from a library.  The one who is not so crafty thought that it was cute and bright, but she thought it was overdone, especially if a kid doesn’t get that kind of a party usually.  So, this time I don’t think we are much a help.  

EL (K-3) – OPTIONAL.  Cindy, Library Teacher

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