Official Review: Book 1 by Artie Woodington

[Drakka Reader]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Book 1" by Artie Woodington.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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Book 1 Finding a New Home, a book by Artie Woodington, is a book about feeling welcome in your own home. It is about how the treatment of others can change whether a place is truly your home or not. Coming in the form of a children's book, it could be an important lesson to teach children, though if the tone is appropriate for a children's book, I cannot say.

The book starts with the family preparing for the bullies, men with guns who come just to make their lives miserable, based on a plan by Big Daddy, the father of the family. The family have endured visits by the bullies up until now, where they would take and keep taking until the family had nothing to call their own. At some point, when something precious of the family is taken, they had to make a decision. The plan did not work, and the bullies would come again and who knew what they would take next time, so the family had to leave. It was time to look for a new home.

The book itself is rather serious, and doesn’t let up throughout the entire book. One of my favorite parts comes from this seriousness. Namely, the fears of the family come across as realistic and only a matter of time. The bullies have guns and make sure to come in groups, so I can believe that the family has legitimate reason to both let them take their food and leave when the treatment becomes too much. I could easily read their motivations, and wanted the family to escape the cruelty.

However, this same seriousness leads to my least favorite part. The tone. This story does not have the feeling of a children's book, and the illustrations do not feel like a reason for children to stay interested in the story. The book also has little to no color, and no real joy to it. I simply cannot believe that a child would want to experience this story, or that the same story could not be presented in a more accessible way to children.

Due to the inappropriate tone and lack of child accessibility, but taking the message into account, I will have to give Book 1 Finding a New Home, 2 out of 4 stars. The message is certainly important for children to know, that home is where they can feel welcome and their treatment of others can change how others feel about their home, but the message is presented in a joyless, drab manner. The book does not fit the audience, but holds merit in being able to teach children an important message, and I would recommend this book for parents to use to teach their kids about home and bullies.

Home is where the heart is, but I couldn’t find it in me to open my heart to this story.

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Book 1
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[kdstrack]

The themes of feeling safe in your home and how to handle bullies are important topics for children's books. I agree with your insightful analysis that the tone and lack of illustrations put this book in a different classification. Great review!

[That Reviewer]

I'm glad this book touched very important matters as regarding children. Giving them a home where they're safe and keeping them away from bullies are critical things parents should strive to provide for their children.

[Nisha Ward]

Ah, yeah. The tone of the book can be a huge deterrent and just reading this, I wondered if it was appropriate for children to read.

[Ogoskino]

It is funny how illustrations and tone of message make all the difference in relating messages especially to children. Great review!

[Drakka Reader]

It is funny how illustrations and tone of message make all the difference in relating messages especially to children. Great review!

That was exactly it, it was as if the author had a good idea to tell, but then forgot that children have to have a reason to read. Pictures being the most obvious route.

Thank you for your comment!