Click here to see my review on Goodreads. ♡
A few days ago, I got contacted by the author Cynthia Huijgens to review her very first illustrated children’s book. I got a free copy and today, I want to share with you my honest review about the book.
The format of the book.
It is a short children’s book, which I love as, in 2020, let’ be fair: most young children play video games more than they read. The fact that the book is short and fully illustrated makes it manageable for parents to convince their children to read it or to read it with them.
Moreover, it makes it easy for school teachers and librarians to read it to a small group of children.
Apart from the number of pages, I really liked the illustrations. It is a fully illustrated book, which means that there are not only a few illustrations here and there but that the whole entire book is written directly ON the illustrations. That places the illustrations into light and as most children are really visual, I think it is a great way to create a relationship between them and the book.
You may also like: Evie Everyday Witch, Secret Magic – Elena Paige.
The story of Polar Bear.
I really liked it as well (5 stars, you guessed it) and I especially liked two things:
- Polar Bear is a female polar bear. Usually, powerful animals such as bears or lions are male in children’s books. I think the fact that Polar Bear is a « she » (yes, it is really subtle, which also makes it easy for young boys to identify with the character) helps erase the barriers young readers may feel when it comes to genre.
- There are so many animals referred to in such a small number of pages. As a non-native English speaker, there are even nouns I have had to look for in a dictionary. What I mean here is that it can be such a great opportunity for a teacher, a librarian or a parent. There are so many courses to be made about fauna in that area and this is, I think, a great way an adult could use that children’s book for educational purposes. Is not education so important in children’s books?
To finish, I want to say that I loved the adventures of Polar Bear with the UFO and that I would love that book to become a series. Maybe the UFO could come back with friends, or maybe Polar Bear could invite friends and visit another planet with them. It could be so great! I think it is also a great evidence that differences do not make friendships impossible, at all.
Once more, a big thank you to the author, and to the illustrator (of course, it is so sad that we often forget to thank illustrators!)
If you want to learn more about the author before buying the book (available next September), you can have a look at her blog here.
I hope you will enjoy reading (& looking at the illustrations) as much as I did.
My other book reviews: Book Reviews by Camille (children’s books, Classics, philosophy &c.)
The English-speaking Frenchie 