Review - Library Lion

For those of you with small children, you might have read Library Lion. For those of you who have small children but who haven't read it, well, that's why I'm here. I give you my professional opinion on a story book - professional as a bookseller who's recently been put in charge of Story Time in our shop (Side note: it's like a promotion, only I don't get paid more.)

So... any excuse to read a picture book, then?
Alter-egos are a silly joke of mine, forget about this question. The book was read for work, out loud, to small children. They seemed to enjoy it. I did not. Not the book, the reading out loud of it. Nerves. Meh... moving on...

Is the book recommended for small children, then?
Very much so! And the parents enjoyed it, too, from what I could tell. I personally thought it was a great little story, with a good set of morals, a little bit of humour and a lovely story to go along with it. The kids seemed to like the book, when they were paying attention - I think kids paid better attention afterwards because they'd settled down a little bit, so I'd recommend the book for night-time more than anything else, when they might be tired.

What were the pictures like? You said it was a picture book!
Ah the pictures... they were very pretty. Lots of attention to detail to get the lion looking just right, to make the characters look vivid and real, while still maintaining the illusion that cartoons are capable of. Fantastic, easy on the eye drawings that complimented the story in a lovely way.

And the moral behind the story..?
Rules. The book is all about rules. They have a big importance in the book, controlling the lion in a proper, friendly way - stopping him from roaring in the library - while also showing that rules can be broken if a friend is in need, for example. What more could a parent ask for, than a book about the importance of keeping rules, and acknowledging when they should be broken? (and the only times when they should be broken!)  

Review - The Gruffalo

This is the story of a little brown mouse in a deep dark wood, who must overcome the brute force of creatures that want to eat him. This is the story of The Gruffalo.

Picture book binge?
A little bit. If you've been following me on Twitter, you'll know I read three picture books today. In fact, if you read my review of Library Lion, you'll know I'll be doing this a lot in the future. Three reviews of picture books a week, plus my usual service. This is the way forward? Let's pretend it is.

So, what did you think of the book?
It was by far my favourite of the day. The mouse is a funny little character, the book has a funny little rhyming scheme and there's a great moral to the story!

We'll start there, then: who are the characters of the story?
Okay, we have the mouse, the fox, the owl, the snake and the gruffalo. All are important. The mouse is the smallest of them all, and yet he's the smartest, too. He scares off the other creatures with the story of the gruffalo and how mighty it is. I won't tell you what happens after that. That'd ruin the book, because I know you really want to read it. No really, you do. Just to see what the mouse does. Plus, you know, your kids will love it.

What about the pictures? Pictures are pretty!
Well, what would a picture book be without pictures? The Gruffalo is filled with bright, cheery pictures; they're not too complicated, but what they lack in overly intricate detail they make up for in brightness and colour. Definitely the most appealing to the eye of all the picture books from the July 31st Story Time!

What's the moral of this story, then?
Think about it. Got it yet? Okay, look at the mouse. Nice, small mouse. Then, look at the other animals. Vicious, big animals, ready to eat the mouse within a second. And yet, the mouse comes out on top. He scares them all away. Smart, little mouse. So, the moral - the smart, small guy can still win. You know who are smart and small? Children. Smarter than you realise, and smaller than you. They'll like that the mouse won, because some part of them will realise that they're the mouse. They're the creature that seems to get picked on.

Definitely recommended, so?
Oh yes! If you don't buy it, read it and love it, I'd be very surprised!