Reading Makes You Feel Good

September 1, 2005
PreS-Gr 1 -Parr highlights some of the advantages of reading, such as learning how to make a pizza or finding your favorite animal at the zoo. The cartoon illustrations are bold and cheerful. Once again, the artist embraces a wild palette with pink rabbits, a purple elephant, and green-, yellow-, and blue-faced people. The art includes many fun details, such as labels, signs, and an odd assortment of objects sitting in the freezer next to the TV dinner. Such details encourage children and adults to move beyond the text and discuss the pictures together. A few of the pages are less successful than others. For example, the accompanying illustration for -you can imagine you are a brave princess -& - shows a traditional damsel in distress, yelling for help from her tower. This predictability is later offset by a spread showing a father and baby together in the park, each reading a book. This title was written to support the work of Reach Out and Read, and as a message book, it is similar to Rosemary Wells's "Read to Your Bunny" (Scholastic, 1998). The strong contrast in artistic styles, however, ensures that the books will appeal to different audiences. Children will enjoy Parr's bright, zany pictures and come away with the important lesson: reading both teaches and entertains, and is fun to do with someone special." -Suzanne Myers Harold, Multnomah County Library System, Portland, OR"

Copyright 2005 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2005
PreS-K Parr captions illustrations that resemble Byron Barton's in their rich colors and neatly drawn, thick-lined simplicity with an earnest catalog of some of reading's special benefits--from making it possible to "find your favorite animal at the zoo" to learning about "cool places and people." He also points out that reading can be a shared experience or a solitary activity, and that it can be done almost anywhere. Pre-readers will probably respond more strongly to the multihued parade of smiling animals and people than to the brief text, but the worthy message isn't laid on too thickly to smother its appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2005
Reading may make you feel good because "you can learn about cool places and people," but it won't be this slight offering that convinces anyone. However, while Parr's pep talk about the value of reading may appeal to adults, his signature bright, simplified figures may attract young listeners.

(Copyright 2005 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)