Review of Whittle Me This

[Rishaunda Lynnette Britton]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Whittle Me This" by Clifford Banks.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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"Whittle Me This" is a children's story written and illustrated by Clifford Banks. It is a sophisticated narration of the dispersal of a samara seed named Ash to a new habitat in Boston, Massachusetts, and his different levels of transformation, beginning from germinating and growing into a giant tree to eventually ending up as a baseball bat gift from an old sea captain to his grandson, Grant. You will marvel at what happened to Ash under Grant's possession.

Ash's journeys and transformations are rigorous yet fascinating, and when we reflect on his experiences in all these, like his seafaring adventure, his encounter with the sailboat named Wendi, and his use in baseball games, we learn practical lessons about life's unpredictability. Anything can happen at any time, and whatever happens to us leaves behind some marks—some positive, some traumatic. It makes more sense when you ponder how a samara seed eventually ended up at a baseball hall of stardom located in Cooperstown, New York.

I was impressed by the illustrations. They added so much beauty and thrill to the story. Major scenes in the story are given adequate pictorial representation. In addition, I enjoyed the wordplay, especially the musical taste in the line "bones of a battered bat battened down" (page 45). The book was exceptionally well edited. There is also a glossary at the end of the story, which is provided to help children look up the meanings of strange words.

The major concern I have about this story is its sophisticated content. As a children's story, I expected the storyline, word choices, and sentence structures to be overly simple, but that wasn't the case. There are simpler alternatives to words like zephyr, anemochory, sapling, and sodden, which would have made comprehension of the story easier for kids. Expressions like "amorphous prismatic web (page 23) and "tectonic forces" (page 35) should have been replaced with their most simplified alternatives.

There is a glossary at the end of the story explaining the meanings of most of these words, but going back and forth to check those will definitely cause kids some avoidable inconveniences, and most kids may not still understand the explanations given. Furthermore, the storyline lacked the typical seamless flow that sustains children's attention. The transition to different phases of Ash's life and journey is sudden, and there is often no background information explaining such, as can be seen in the sudden narration of Ash's presence in the baseball hall of stardom, without any explanation of how he got there.

I rate "Whittle Me This" three out of five stars for its great concept of life's unpredictability and transformation, as well as the exceptional editing and amazing illustrations. The book lost two stars due to the aforementioned concerns. The problem with this story is its presentation, and it should get a perfect rating once the sentence structures, word choices, and storyline are simplified to meet the reading needs of the target audience: children. I recommend this book to readers aged four to eleven. Younger readers will need help to understand most aspects of the story.

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Whittle Me This
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[Vinay Penubothu]

Thank you for your detailed review! Your insights have piqued my interest, and I'm excited to dive into the book. Your review convinced me it's a must-read. Thanks for sharing your thoughts - they've inspired me to explore further

[Anil Baade]

Thank you for your valuable insights about this book. You've explained about the book very well. I'll definitely add this to my reading list.