The Chirri and Chirra books are surreal. You can hear the translation as sometimes the wording does not flow naturally on the ears. You will enjoy the story, but you probably should suspend belief. If you are looking for realism, Kaya Doi’s books are probably not what you are looking for. However, if you like a casual, somewhat natural mix of fantastic and realism, the Chirri and Chirra books are perfect. And the illustrations are very sweet with soft, happy colors, a lot of detail […]
Abner and Ian try to get it right (side up)
Dave Eggers has at least two new books for kids this year with Abner & Ian Get Right-Sided Up is the second one I read. The first, Most Likely Tomorrow was not a huge hit for me story wise, but I enjoyed the illustrations greatly. However, I enjoyed the story immensely more than Abner & Ian. I was amazed that both books were done by the same author considering how radically different the stories are. Plus, they are being publisher by two different publishers and […]
Mostly Likely you’ll love this book if you give it a try
A coworker asked me if Tomorrow Most Likely was as cute as it is supposed to me. I said, “Weeeellll… My logic is taking over.” How do you explain that maybe you will not have met Cousin Todd today? Or the sky is not blue today? After all the text of Dave Eggers makes it seem like it will happen. But then I thought, that this is a good discussion book. He does say “most likely” and when you do not meet a squirrel named […]
A loose tooth and one heck of an imagination
The good news about Dory Fantasmagory: Head in the Clouds is I got it for free. This is another story where a child is not thinking and gets herself into trouble but does not seem to learn her lesson. This is usually due to the fact she is “so cute” or her teacher is unable to find a punishment Dory realizes is to curve her trouble-making and not “mean”, or her parents have a “modern” take on parenting, or in more than one case, her […]