Official Review: Tales of Friendship by Carole Bruce Mumm

[Mallory Whitaker]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Tales of Friendship" by Carole Bruce Mumm.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Carole Bruce Mumm's Tales of Friendship is a children's book about the importance of overcoming negative mindsets. The story revolves around a pair of cats, Sunshine and Hopeless, who have led two very different lives.

In the town of Paradise, Sunshine lives surrounded by her friends and family, buzzing bees, beautiful butterflies, and perfect weather. A little way down the road, on the other side of a rock wall, is Gloom, where Hopeless lives. Gloom is a cloudy, dreary place filled with rotting trees, thorny bushes, and many vultures. One day, Hopeless decides he's had enough of living in Gloom and makes the bold decision to hop over the rock wall to see what else is out there. He can't make sense of this new place because he hasn't left his gloomy disposition behind him. That's when Sunshine comes along. With Sunshine's help, Hopeless may just be able to see the beauty around him - and, perhaps, within himself.

The illustrations do a nice job of showing the differences between Gloom and Paradise. Paradise, with its smiling sun, vibrant colors, and friendly wildlife, is idyllic. The muted colors of Gloom, to me, helped paint a picture of hopelessness instead of sadness; I think it could be easy for younger readers to confuse with one another. I did think the numerous vultures were a bit overkill, however. While the illustrations are pretty detailed, there were some inconsistencies. The cats could look different from page to page; the hue of their fur, the way their eyes were colored, and their body shapes fluctuated. There were some other minor inconsistencies throughout, but I don't know if a young reader would pick up on them.

Teaching children to have a positive mindset is undoubtedly a worthwhile message. It's also important to teach them that they can choose to focus on the positive rather than the negative, which this book does well. However, I've read a fair share of children's books that carry the same message. Unfortunately, I don't think this one has anything that really separates it from the herd. I appreciate that she was able to take an abstract idea and explain it in a way that a child would understand. The illustrations and the names of the characters and places left little room for confusion. For me, I thought they were a bit on the nose, even for a children's book.

Most of the language is simplistic, with "gloom" and "hopeless" probably being the most challenging vocabulary words for younger readers. The writing style is very formal, making it read a bit like one of Aesop's fables. However, I think this style is difficult to pull off in a contemporary book; the dialogue felt stilted, and both of the cats spoke in the exact same way, leaving little room for individual personalities to shine through.

On the upside, this book was exceptionally edited. I didn't find a single error. Due to this and its meaningful message, I rate Tales of Friendship 2 out of 4 stars. I didn't give it a higher rating due to the inconsistent illustrations of Hopeless and Sunshine, their lack of personalities, and because I felt that there wasn't anything about it that separates it from other children's books about positive mindsets. Additionally, the spacing between words was irregular, making some of the larger blocks of text difficult to read. However, I could see why some people might enjoy reading this due to the moral of the story, especially if their child happens to like cats. It's only the first in a series, so some might find that to be a perk as well. Perhaps Hopeless and Sunshine will get some more character development in the next book. I think toddlers and preschoolers would get the most out of this story.

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Tales of Friendship
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[Jackie Holycross]

I love how the author used color and the names of the characters and the places to develop the characters.

[cd20]

I love that the author gave the cats names that portray their personalities (or the little they possess!). I am with you, I do not like inconsistencies in the story, especially with illustrations. I find them distracting and just not as believable. I recently read a children's book where the girl is learning to be potty trained, and as the mom switched from the floor to the sink, in one scene she had shoes on, in the next she didn't. You turned the page and the same things, shoes on, then off. I also do not like stilted language in children's books. I was a preschool teacher and I was careful of my read-aloud books, they need to be interesting and engaging. The author should always read their work out loud to see how it is going to come across to their young audiences. As a side note, what level do you need to be to have access to children's books?

[Arpita Choudhari]

This book is so sweet , kids will enjoy reading it.

[Precious Naiti]

The inconsistency in illustrations in this book might have been a negative aspect but children will hardly notice. They still stand to benefit from the lessons taught and that is what ultimately matters. Great review!