Review by Teri from NC -- Puffy and the Formidable Foe

[Teri from NC]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Puffy and the Formidable Foe" by Marie Lepkowski and Ann Marie Hannon.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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I found this book to be a very cute and interesting book for a young child. When my children were little, we read many Richard Scarry books. Sometimes we read the words, other times we made up stories by looking at the drawings and characters. This book can be used both ways also. The illustrations are clearly and colorfully presented without background clutter. The style of the illustrations is neat and clean and will appeal to children. The drawings almost look like a child may have done them. The text is written as a rhyme and seems to just flow along. While the text is short sentences that rhyme, I find some of the words used to be for an older reader. How many 4 year olds will know what obscene and ensue mean? Of course, that does present an opportunity for the adult to help expand the child's vocabulary. An early reader will certainly stumble over those words but this will give a preview of sight reading words to come.

I enjoyed reading and looking at this book. The colors are bright and cheerful. The text is very readable. The cat is drawn to be cute and not intimidating. And the end does take an interesting twist that I was not expecting. I can imagine reading this to my children and having them laugh at the antics of the cat.

Another thing I really like about this book is that Home is presented as the safe place. My hope would be that all children are able to feel safe at home. Puffy the cat certainly does.

I rate this book a 3 out of 4. My concern is about the choice to use some advanced words that may cause a young reader to stumble. The story and book are definitely worthwhile. Parents and teachers just need to be prepared to help the young reader with certain words. I still think kids will like the book, as well as the parents. I would like to see more books of this kind by these authors.

I am struggling with the fact that a short children’s book is requiring a 400 word minimum review like the adult genre books I have been reading. I could tell more of the story but when a story is short and simple like this one, I feel that I would give away too much information. Personally as the parent reading the book to my child, I would like to feel the surprise plot twists at the same time my child does. Will be part of the bonding experience. I do recommend this book.

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Puffy and the Formidable Foe
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[Manang Muyang]

Thank you, Mommy Teri from NC! I bet the book got you into reminiscing about those days when your children were little.