Official Review: George the Giant Giraffe and His Colorin...

[Mama_Of_One_2015]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "George the Giant Giraffe and His Coloring Carnival" by Tom Wilson.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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This book provides children with an imaginative story about the power of positive and negative thinking. It begins with a boy getting a bad grade on his latest coloring assignment at school and being laughed at by the other children. He decides that he can’t get any better and to give up coloring. Then the animals in his coloring book come to him in a dream and show him the power of saying “I can” instead of “I can’t.”

I thought this book had a good premise, but I was a bit confused with the targeted age range of the audience. If meant for kindergarten through second grade, the book seems a bit lengthy to keep their attention. There is a lot of detail provided to provide a clear mental picture of what is going on, but it might be a bit much to hold the attention of a young child. If it is geared for older children, then there could be a better lesson illustration to grab their attention than “being bad at coloring.”

Also, what kind of teacher gives bad grades on coloring?? I think referencing the children’s teasing would be enough of a catalyst for the rest of the story to take place.

There were a few grammatical items that I noticed, such as using “good” instead of “well”, and some punctuation needed, but there was nothing too pervasive or distracting. There were also a few areas that I thought could be revisited for phrasing. For example, when the mother confronts the boy on his temper tantrum, she seemed condescending, as she called his picture “pretty” and then telling him that she doesn’t have time for him. I personally would rephrase that section if I were reading this aloud with my child.

There was a picture that seemed a bit out of place in the beginning, where the look on the boy’s face while he is coloring is more “whimsical” or “dreamy” rather than “determined to get better.” Otherwise, the illustrations seemed to fit and I thought they added some good spacing to the length of the book.

While there are some good descriptors for the giraffe, there was just a cursory description of the carnival and the other animals within the coloring book. While I know that’s not the premise of the story, it is the title of the story, and I felt like more detail was needed for what he might have seen when he was transported into the pages of his favorite coloring book.

Overall, I would give this book a rating of 3 out of 4 stars. I would have given this 2.5 if half stars were used. I think there is a lot within this book that would be appealing to parents, but I think children would be overwhelmed with the length or lose interest, depending upon the author’s target audience.

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George the Giant Giraffe and His Coloring Carnival
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