Review of Mingo N Bumble

[Jane Ogwang]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Mingo N Bumble" by Kelly Berry-Petrie.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Mingo N Bumble by Kelly Berry-Petrie tells the tale of two different creatures who become good friends. Bumble, a bumblebee, finds himself in the tall grass of the meadow home to Mingo, the flamingo. Mingo is taken aback by this massive bug she has never seen or heard of before. She goes to bed that night with the sight and sound of Bumble still dominating her mind. She promises to go out there, investigate and find out what the bug is. The following day, she walks into Bumble while running errands in the garden. Bumble notices and approaches her to find out why she is watching him with her binoculars. They strike a conversation that would lead to a new and diverse friendship between the two very different animals; a bird and an insect.

I loved the lessons of diversity and friendship that dominated the book. The differences between Mingo and Bumble did not stop them from getting along and seeing the good in each other. This is a welcome and vital lesson with the hatred and hostility we have experienced over the years because of religious, racial, and sexual preference differences. This book addresses the group that actually has the power to change the narratives in the future, the children. A good children's book leaves a valuable mark and lesson, and this one ticked that box.

The book was also quite colorful and pleasing to the eye. The illustrations and pictures in the book were excellent; they depicted Mingo and Bumble quite well. One can follow the story just from the colorful images in the book. But this also turned out to be the biggest downside to the reader. The author and publisher focused so much on the pictures that they completely abandoned the story's most vital part: the writing itself. Tiny sections of the page were left for the writings. Not only that, the font used was too small. I cannot narrate how much I struggled to read a 19-page children's book, and I cannot imagine how much more the target children would have to work to read this.

This small font also affected the letters themselves. Most of the letters t looked like they were not crossed. The spacing between the words was also inconsistent and quite discouraging to read. I'm recording these experiences from the Kindle version that Amazon delivered to me. Maybe the physical book could be different, and I hope that is the case.

Because of the tiny fonts that are difficult to read and the numerous errors that came with that, I'm forced to give the book a rating of two out of four stars. The otherwise colorful and insightful book was just too difficult to read. If these are corrected, it would definitely earn a perfect rating from me. I wouldn't recommend the Kindle version to anyone. I would, however, advise parents to check out the paper versions in the bookstores and, if readable, buy them for their kids between ages 1 and 7.

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Mingo N Bumble
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon

[lawisimportant23]

I will surely find one of these for my niece. Great review.

[Natalie Sheph]

It's really unfortunate when a children's book is full of errors, I hope that problem will be fixed soon. The book looks fun and adventurous. Great review.

[Dauria04]

This seems like a lovely history with an important lesson for children. It's a shame that you had to struggle to finish the book. Thank you for your honest review

[Jane Ogwang]

I will surely find one of these for my niece. Great review.

I hope your niece enjoys reading it. Thanks for passing by.

[Jane Ogwang]

It's really unfortunate when a children's book is full of errors, I hope that problem will be fixed soon. The book looks fun and adventurous. Great review.

I really do hope the problem gets fixed soon too. Thanks for the comment.

[Jane Ogwang]

This seems like a lovely history with an important lesson for children. It's a shame that you had to struggle to finish the book. Thank you for your honest review

Thanks for passing by.