Review of The Prodigal Angel

[MarisaRose]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Prodigal Angel" by Evelyn Dunbar Webb.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Prodigal Angel, written and illustrated by Evelyn Dunbar Webb, is a children’s book aimed at early readers between the ages of six and ten. The book is split into twelve short chapters and includes a few colorful illustrations. In the story, Rachel, an angel in Heaven, dreams of becoming a Guardian Angel. Rachel is sick of her schooling and yearns for an adventure on Earth. The young angel forms a plan to run away from Heaven and head to Earth to prove that she is ready to become a true Guardian Angel. However, Rachel quickly learns that Earth is a lot more challenging than she anticipated.

With sixty-nine pages, The Prodigal Angel is the perfect length for the target audience: the book is short enough to be read by an early independent reader or by a younger child with the help of a parent or guardian. Moreover, the author uses suitable language for the target audience, and the themes are simplistic enough to be understood by young readers. Rachel’s boredom with her mundane schooling, the importance of her friendships, and the angel’s yearning for adventure are relatable topics for the intended audience.

The illustrations in this book are colorful and cute. There are only a few images in the book; they depict Rachel, her friends, and some of the places she visits. The number of illustrations felt appropriate for the intended audience. The sparse number of illustrations allows young readers to rely on creating images with their imagination. However, the illustrations generally seemed too amateurish for the target age group: the characters lack complex facial expressions, and the imagery is awkward in places.

Although the writing is fit for the target audience and the story is heartwarming and meaningful, The Prodigal Angel is not without fault. The formatting of the physical copy I reviewed needs improvement. The illustrations take up two full pages and are placed on pages without any words. In most instances, the narrative is cut in the middle of a sentence, or even in the middle of a word, when the reader flips to a double-page illustration. This significantly hinders the flow of the text. Further, this formatting takes away from the cute illustrations, as the reader will most likely flip past the image quickly in order to finish the sentence from the preceding page.

Overall, The Prodigal Angel is a sweet early chapter book that is best suited for independent readers between the ages of six and ten. The book will be most enjoyed by children looking for a story about friendship and adventure. The book deserves a high rating due to the endearing story and appropriate use of language and themes for the intended audience. Further, the book is adequately edited; I only noted two errors in the text. However, the poor formatting and questionable illustrations lead me to rate this children's book 3 out of 4 stars.

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The Prodigal Angel
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[Lucy Vera]

Thank you for this well detailed review. This would be a perfect book for my niece.

[Vivian Stones]

Amazing Review, very detailed.my nephews would love to read this book, at least to know how the angel coped on earth.

[Immaculate06]

It is good to know that the author made the book easy to read and comprehend. I would love to read the book. Good review.

[Sudheer Kastwar]

It is good to know that the author made the book easy to read and comprehend. I would love to read the book. Good review

[Vidhi Adhikari]

I'm going to save this book for the children of my friends. Sounds like just the thing they need. Thanks for such a detailed review.

[Asiaa Szn]

I believe my little sister would love this. Thanks for your nice review

[queen anirah]

This is a book I’d be recommending to many parents. I think the angel might have just wanted to explore. anyways, running is just bad.